玄日狩Eclipse Hunter: Recollection of Desires
by GrrBear
Summary: Devon Solaris, now considered the 'Sun' of the economic world, searches for his dearly missed baby brother. He had been searching for 7 long years, and after much sacrifice and betrayal, found what he was looking for. But Daren had seemed so different to him, something was off. Could it be? Did his nightmare become a reality? Did his little brother really forget all about him?
1. Chapter 1

**玄日狩 ****Fanfiction (Chapter**** 1)****"Recollection of Desires"**

Note: Hi guys! This is my first story based on a Chinese novel by Yu Wo: 玄日狩. It's basically a retelling of the very first volume, except with a twist in the plot. What if the adored baby brother of the leader of the world's economy doesn't recognize his older brother? What if the baby brother doesn't even remember if he HAD a brother? This is a story about how Daren, the younger brother of Devon, the Solaris Emperor, goes through the events of the first volume, except with amnesia. Enjoy!

Another note: The first and second chapter is written like a summary, (in my own words of course!), for those who have no background about this story. I figured this would be best since玄日狩 doesn't seem to be very well known.

Final note: I don't own 玄日狩, Yu Wo does.

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><p>"No! I don't want to go!"<p>

I desperately grabbed my big brother's waist, holding on to him like a vice. For some reason, I felt that if I let go of this body that was my only source of light through my morose childhood, I would never see it again.

"Don't be scared. You still have your older brother. I will protect you."

I felt a reassuring pat on my head that was so characteristic of my big brother. Pouting, I decided to make him swear that he would never leave me behind.

"Then let's make a deal," I said, as I extended my little finger. "If big brother lied then... you'll have to eat a lot of bitter melon which you hate!"

Big brother cracked me a comforting smile, and promised, "Alright, alright. If I am lying to you, then I will eat a lot of bitter melon."

Finally convinced by big brother's oath, I turned around and faced a tall man that was waiting impatiently for us to finish saying goodbye. This man barely glanced at me before he grabbed my wrist and led me away from the only person who ever cared for me. This man, who was supposedly my father, gave off a cold aura as I turned around, again and again, to look at my only friend and companion, my brother.

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><p>Devon Solaris, referred to by the public as the Solaris Emperor, was madly marching down a hallway of a castle-like mansion that was his father's workplace. He stopped in front of a door and hesitated for a while, thinking through his decision again. It had been 7 years since his little brother's disappearance, 7 years since he joined the Solaris group, and under his leadership, now owned 30% of the entire world's economy. It had also been 7 years since he started using all of Solaris' resources to search for his missing sibling.<p>

And yet, even though possessing the great intelligence of a crafty businessman, and the power of one of the world's top five trade cartels, Devon Solaris was unable to find any clue of his younger brother. He was sure that with his power, even if his younger brother somehow perished and died in Antarctica, he would be able to find his body. And yet for 7 years, his searchings were fruitless. It was as if young Daren Solaris vanished from the world without a trace.

Devon knew exactly who to blame for his heartbroken life, his father. His father took Daren away from him when Daren was only 7. Devon had trusted his father when he told him that he would send Daren to a famous school overseas_. 'How could I have been so gullible?'_ Devon thought to himself. '_Why did I not notice the cold glares that father always gave Daren? Why did I not notice father's hatred of Daren earlier?'_ He had always blamed himself, over and over again as he played that last scene of goodbye inside his mind.

Indeed, Daren meant more to Devon than his own life. This was because Devon found Daren when he was just a little baby inside a hidden room high up in their home. It was Devon who raised Daren from infant to childhood. It was also Devon who taught Daren how to laugh and read. Before Devon came, Daren's room was always pitch black. Devon would always have to turn on the light when he came in. As time passed, Daren's first words weren't "mom" or "dad", but "brother". Devon could still remember feeding Daren milk from a bottle all the way to reading picture books with Daren and Daren's favorite game of smashing a ball in Devon's face. Of course, Devon's father never approved of any of this. Believing that Daren was a seed of evil that killed his wife, Devon's father shunned Daren away in that hidden room.

Devon didn't understand why his father hated Daren so much. His mother died while giving birth to Daren so it certainly wasn't Daren's fault. His mother would've wanted Daren to be happy too, right? Instead, his heartless bastard of a father took Daren away at the age of 7 to some unknown place out of Devon's reach. This was something that Devon would never be able to forgive his dad for. Even though as a father, he gave Devon everything he wanted and made sure he lived a happy life. It was this faltering love for his father that delayed Devon for 7 years before he finally made this decision.

'_I'm going to kill you father, if you don't tell me where you hid Daren.'_

With this resolving decision, Devon gracefully entered the room where his father worked. The room certainly clashed with the rest of the luxurious mansion, as it only contained several desks with computers set up surrounding a single figure. The figure looked up, almost expectantly, and noted the presence of his son, the Solaris Emperor. Without even giving a chance for his father to say something, Devon swiftly pulled out a handgun, of the newest technology, and pointed it at his father's head. With a penetrating glare, he asked his father, "Where's my little brother?"

Devon's father wasn't fazed at all by his son's threat. His experience in the business world taught him that at least. Revealing a smile, he looked deep into his son's eyes and replied, "Actually, I was planning to give him to you for your 25th birthday!"

Devon on the other hand, wasn't prepared at all for this answer, and as his father moved to get up, snarled back reflexively, "Don't move. I might cripple you if you don't tell me where he is."

Hearing his father sighing, Devon wasn't quite sure what his father meant_.' Did he really want to return Daren to him?'_ Still unable to pull the trigger, Devon could only follow his father as he led him into the bathroom. Filled with shock, Devon gasped as he saw his father turn on the tap for the bathtub, which immediately caused the bathtub to sink down, revealing a flight of stairs. Unable to speak, he heard his father say, "Child, no matter how much you searched or how smart you were, there was no way that you would think that I hid your little brother under my personal rest room."

Still dumbfounded and unable to recover from bewilderment, Devon realized that even till the last moment, his father was one step ahead of him. His father, ever the actor, was still able to humiliate him, even with a gun pointed at his head. Nevertheless, how was he supposed to have known? It was just like his father to smash all of his hard work over the 7 years searching for Daren when he was right underneath his nose all this time.

Without a word, his father stepped in, followed closely by Devon. Devon was prepared to meet his little brother in the most horrible of conditions, although confident that with his current technology, he would be able to save Daren anyways. However, when both father and son entered a brightly lit laboratory, Devon was utterly flabbergasted, unable to take in the current situation.

Meanwhile, a man with emerald eyes behind a pair of small glasses wearing a lab coat approached the pair. Also behind him were several other people wearing lab coats. The man's emerald eyes seemed to meet with Devon's eyes briefly, before he turned his head to acknowledge the person in charge, Devon's father.

"How was Dark Sun's surgery?"

"He went through it successfully, and has now regained enough energy and consciousness to be training in the combat simulator," the man with emerald eyes replied in a cold voice, "Congratulations, with the newly added microchip implanted into Dark Sun's head, you now have the perfect bodyguard."

Confused by the conversation his father and the scientist were having, Devon cut in with his own questions.

"Wh-what are you talking about? Dark Sun? Surgery? Bodyguard? Just tell me where my little brother is!" Devon cried. He was starting to get impatient and scared for Daren's sake. Knowing his father, he must be plotting something.

'_Where is his little brother?' _Thought the emerald eyes scientist, '_Could the man behind the boss be Dark Sun's older brother?' _

A light of recognition flashed through the eyes of the scientist, followed by a glance of pity for Devon. Devon didn't like or understand the look of pity from the scientist. Surely he couldn't be looking down on the Solaris Emperor? And yet that light of recognition from the scientist, seemed to hold deep secrets and sadness. '_Just what was going on here?' _Devon thought.

His father abruptly ended Devon's thoughts though. "Lead the way, scientist," demanded Devon's intimidating father, "Show us where Dark Sun is. I wish to see him with my own two eyes."

The small band of lab coat people turned around and headed down a white, spotless hallway. The emerald-eyed scientist however, shot Devon's father a look of pure hatred and contempt before leading on the party. This look was promptly ignored by Devon's father, but not missed by Devon. Unmistakably, Devon's heartbeat was beating faster with each step he took that would bring him closer to Daren.

'_I don't care what father did to you_, he thought,_ I just want to see you again.'_

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><p><span>Final Note, I promise:<span> I hope you liked this chapter. If so, then review! Even just one word is fine. I just want to see if people are actually interested in this story. I'll continue posting up chapters regardless, since I love this novel so much and I wanted people to know about it. Oh and if you want to read the original, you can go to the English translation and read it on Odd squad's site. Just search them up on google. :)


	2. Chapter 2

****Second chapter! I have yet to start planning the third one, but I bet it'll be done by the end of the week. Please review if you haven't already, and many thanks to those who did. I appreciate it!

A note that I forgot to add last time: A whole plate of cookies to Echo Mendiguren for helping me beta-read this story! :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Devon's feet stopped in front of a combat simulator, which was surrounded by glass-material walls, and for a while couldn't figure out what the group of scientists were admiring. Their eyes all sparkled with respect and delight, all except the emerald-eyed scientist. The latter had his back turned away from the simulator, as if looking into the combat room would be unbearable for him. Then Devon finally caught a glimpse of a blurred figure moving inside the simulator room. Gradually, he realized that the figure was moving so fast, his eyes were unable to comprehend the mysterious person's features. What Devon could make out though, was a young boy, slightly shorter than himself, who had a head of short, gleaming silver hair. The boys' silver hair though, seemed to represent the complete opposite of Devon's own shining blond hair.

But the image of this boy still seemed to pull at Devon's heartstrings that made Devon want to run over there and hug him.

Slowly, almost painfully, Devon pieced together the puzzle pieces in his mind. '_Father led me down here to see my little brother.'_ remembered Devon, '_Then I entered a laboratory where scientists told my father about the completed surgery of "Dark Sun"._ _Now they led us here... It couldn't be. No, could the boy in front of my eyes possibly be Daren?'_

As if to answer his son's questions, Devon's father commanded the emerald-eyed scientist, _"_Let Dark Sun come out. Let him meet his new master."

'_Master? Why did my father say master?'_ thought the puzzled Devon. But hewatched with great anticipation as the scientist obeyed his father's orders, albeit a bit grudgingly, and told the boy inside the simulator, "Dark Sun, stop fighting and come out."

All of the Dark Sun this, Dark sun that was starting to get on Devon's nerves. If the boy inside really was Daren, then how dare these scientist refer to him in that way! His father as well, why would he call Daren, Dark Sun? Devon stopped thinking mid-way through, as he saw the young boy walk out of the simulator and their eyes met. The youth looked at Devon with eyes that showed no recognition, and held his back straighter than the most well-trained soldier. Indeed, the boy wasn't moving an inch. Devon recognized the adolescent at first glance however, and without a doubt realized that this was his long lost brother, Daren. Devon recognized Daren's cute, babyish face that didn't seem to change at all over the past 7 years. In his imagination, Devon could already imagine a wide smile spreading across his little brother's face and hearing Daren call out to him:_ 'Brother!'. _Physically though, Devon was on the verge of breaking down, knees buckling, as he shouted out to the supposed "Daren":

"Daren, d-do you still remember me? I'm your older brother, Devon."

Hoping for a smiling response, Devon's heart was thrust into confusion and disappointment when "Daren" didn't seem to reply. The let down weighed heavily on Devon's heart as he tried again and again to get an answer from the little brother standing a few feet away from him. This was all for naught, because "Daren" seemed to show no acknowledgement for Devon.

"Wait, he won't answer you if you call him Daren," came the distressed voice of the emerald-eyed scientist, who had seen enough of this heartbreaking sight, "You have to refer to him as Dark Sun, because that's the name we implanted into his microchip."

"Dark Sun?" snarled Devon, "I would be a monster to call my little brother by such a title. 'Dark Sun' has a name, and his name is DAREN."

As if he finally he heard his name, Dark Sun stepped toward Devon a few steps. Devon lost all of his anger at the scientist when he saw this, but was surprised at his little brother using a voice that he'd never heard before. It was a voice that contained no emotion, ice cold and was as merciless as an assassin.

"Top priority master confirmed. DNA and pupil check complete. Does master wish to change name to 'Daren'?"

Shocked at what his little brother said to him, Devon could only look into Daren's face searching for some sort of way to make his little brother remember him. It seemed too cruel, that he finally found his brother after six years, and yet have him turned into a monster by these scientists. But his father had started this whole thing. His father, yes, it was all his father's fault. Devon reached into his pocket for his handheld gun, turned his body around and was ready to shoot his father down, only to stare blankly at the gun already pointed at his head before he could even react. The person who pointed the weapon at Devon was no other than his own father. With an almost maniacal grin, Devon's father said, "I won't let my "Sun" be the one to do the dirty work."

From the instant Devon's father whipped out the gun, Dark Sun's microchip commanded his body to protect the top priority master. This meant the annihilation of the man who held the gun at his master's head. There wasn't any hint of hesitation as Dark Sun lengthened his metallic silver hair to form lead iron threads that could cut through steel if need be. He sent these whip-like threads of hair flying towards the enemy that punctured through his heart. Blood spurted everywhere as Dark Sun struck down his master's father, as well as his own.

Devon turned his head to look at his brother, in both shock and agony, as he was greeted by Dark Sun's emotionless face. His father, crumpled down and landed in the ground with a thud, dying instantly. The scientists began to run away, scattering all over the hallway outside of the simulator room. Only the emerald-eyed scientist stood his ground, and seeing the deadly questioning look on Devon's face, tried to explain what happened:

"Dark Sun was only trying to complete his du-"

"Enough," growled Devon, as he whipped out his own handheld gun from his pocket and aimed for all the other scientists around the room. One by one, with alarming accuracy, the lab-coated scientists were shot down, no matter how far they tried to run. _'It was all these scientists' fault,'_ concluded Devon, _'It was their experimenting that made Daren like this. Father deserved to die, but Daren shouldn't have been the one to kill him. Now Daren's become a murderer, and it was all these scientists' FAULT'_

As he made his way through the scientists, he finally pointed his gun at the emerald-eyed doctor, and he would have shot down him too had the latter not said,

"Wait, if you kill me, there wouldn't be anyone to tell you about your brother! Your brother's not a normal kid anymore. His body can't be pierced by the sharpest knives, and his bones have been alloyed with metal. Not to mention the microchip inside his brain that makes him put you as his top priority master-"

"My brother's not normal anymore?" snapped Devon, "And who's fault is that? Wasn't it you and the other madmen who made him this way?"

"Yes, it was me who implanted the microchip into his head," replied the doctor, "I was assigned to be Dark Sun's personal surgeon. But if I didn't do it, your father would've got someone else to do the dirty work. At least as his personal doctor, I was able to modify his microchip a bit. I managed to convince the theorists that maybe you would like a body guard with feelings."

Devon thought about this for a second, "Who are you? And how am I supposed to make my little brother normal again?"

"My name is Theodore Avery," responded the scientist, "And it would be impossible to turn Dark Sun back, he endured countless surgeries that even grown men would have a slim chance of sur-"

"Don't you dare call my little brother Dark Sun."

"Yes, yes of course. As I said before, it would be impossible to redo all of the surgeries that 'Daren' had endured. But as his master, you could turn on his emotion switch in his microchip that would allow him to have emotions. Right now Dark S-, I mean Daren, is nothing short of the perfect body guard who would always obey you. But with his emotion switch turned on, it would make him as human as he'll ever be. Just tell Daren to turn on his emotion switch."

Given this slim hope that his little brother would remember him, Devon decided to do as the scientist said. "Daren, turn on your emotion switch."

"Yes, master," came the robotic voice of Daren. His microchip, upon hearing master's orders, opened the switch. All of a sudden, a new consciousness slipped into his mind, and his microchip couldn't take in all this excess data. Choosing the safest way of preserving the info, his microchip decided to shut his body down. As Daren fell to the ground, losing awareness, the last thing he saw was the worried face of a beautiful blond-haired man.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hi guys! Chapter 3 complete! I've started on chapter 4, so that shouldn't take too long either. These chapters aren't going to be over 2000 words, so I can write them pretty fast. Also, this chapter focuses a lot on dialogue between Devon and Theodore, and the inner thoughts of Daren when he was still in the laboratory. Just trying to make it clear :)

Enjoy the chapter! And thank you so much for the reviews! I read each and every one of them and they always make me feel like writing more chapters, so please give me more reviews. I need it for inspiration, so I don't suffer from writer's block.**  
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><p>"So tell me, what exactly happened in the 7 years that Daren was out of my reach?" Came a demanding, yet quiet voice that was sitting near the foot of a bed, almost afraid to wake the precious youth's slumber. A teenage boy with short, silver hair was lying in the mattress, sleeping, yet his body remained so still that from afar you might even think that he was dead.<p>

Another voice, more cool and composed, came from a few feet away from the bed, sitting on a couch. "It's quite a long story to tell, and even I don't know everything that went on with Daren. He, well let's just say that he will never be the same..."

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><p>'<em>Hurts, this hurts so much!'<em>

I felt countless painful shocks coursing through my body as I struggled against the arm and leg braces. They held me down while those agonizing impacts zapped all of my strength away. I was all alone in my small glass prison, but with my blurring vision, I managed to steal a glance outside at the white-coat wearing men who were busy scribbling down things on their clipboard. I didn't care what they did to me anymore; I just wanted to meet my older brother again. My head, objecting to all of the external clashes, started giving me spasms of dizziness. As I slowly faded into the darkness, a darkness that felt like it can last an eternity; my last glimpse of the real world was a man, looking at me through the glass wall with a pair of emerald green eyes behind a small pair of glasses that held an expression I didn't quite understand.

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><p>"I knew there was no way that a 7 year-old child could survive all of those deadly experiments and surgeries," said a voice that was sitting on the couch, "But, I was never one to complain. Before your father hired me, I was a merciless doctor who wouldn't treat anyone if they didn't pay enough money. Mind you, my price was quite high, but my skills were top-notch. However, had it not been for your father's employment, I would've likely ended up on the stree-"<p>

"You WHAT? You KNEW there was no way Daren would survive, but you did what my father said anyways? You cruel bastard!" growled the now loud, enraged voice of the person who used to be sitting near the sleeping teen's bed. Now the voice stood up, whipped out his handheld gun and pointed it directly in the other voice's direction. "I ought to kill you right now for all the pain you put my little brother through!"

Seeing the back of the gun-holding voice emitting the aura of a mother wolf who found one of her cubs injured, the previous cool and composed voice realized that he had hit a nerve. _'Reminder to self, never talk about Daren's "could've been,"' _thought the now scared-for-his-own-life voice. _'I'd better calm him down.'_

"B-but Daren didn't die right? This proved that he had great physical capabilities! Besides, as I've said before, if I didn't do the dirty work, your father would've found someone else. Why he was so set on making Daren the test subject was beyond me. It was as if he felt nothing wrong with torturing a little boy like this. Back then, I didn't even know that Daren was also his son."

The previously enraged voice seemed to simmer down a bit at hearing the compliment: '[Daren] had great physical capabilities', and sat down again, but still held on to his gun. With a sigh, the voice murmured quietly, as if to himself, "Father never cared for Daren. He hated him and loathed him because of my mother's death that wasn't even his fault. It was my responsibility for never taking his hate for Daren seriously."

Even though this murmur was said in an extremely quiet voice for the Solaris Emperor, the other party could hear what was said crystal clear. There was no one else in this wide, luxurious room, so the silence afterwards was quite piercing and unpleasant. Finally, the voice with the gun told the latter, "Continue on with your story, I want to hear about Daren's experiences."

The other voice started, "Well, ignoring the experiment details which I'd doubt you'd understand," at this he got quite a hard glare from the other party, "We managed to alloy his bones with a special combination of metal. This new form of metal was specially designed to be both strong and flexible. Not to mention we also modified his entire body cell structure, meaning his hair can be lengthened at will to form deadly razors, and his fingernails can also be lengthened to form metal claws. His skin, as I've mentioned before, have become impervious to the sharpest of knives, and he also possesses numerous other surprises. His physical appearance didn't change though, we made sure of that."

At this, the talking voice suddenly stopped, as if remembering had become too overwhelming. After a while, he continued with his memories.

"I was the only person who would feel the slightest bit of pity for Daren. And this wasn't easy, I promise you. In the 'outside' world, I was often considered cruel for turning down patients who couldn't pay me enough money. I was the only one that ever talked to him, ever smiled at him. I swear the other researchers in the lab all had hearts of stone or sold their soul to the devil for money. Well, I did that too, but at least I felt a bit of compassion for the poor boy."

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><p>Has it been weeks, months, years since I last saw my older brother? I miss him so much. I couldn't even keep track of time anymore. There was no daily visits from brother, or yearly birthday presents. I hope he would come for me soon and take me away from this place...<p>

A gentle pat on my head lifted me out of the darkness._ 'That felt like brother's pat_', I thought. Looking up, I saw a man wearing the same white coat as the other people, but this man's eyes were green, sparkling like emeralds and his hair was blue, the color of the sky that I saw in the picture books brother brought me. Sad and confused that it wasn't my brother, I decided not to say anything. This was a habit I developed. Talking required energy, and energy was something I didn't have right now.

"Hello there, what's your name?" The man with emerald eyes asked me.

After a while, I finally realized that this man was talking to me. This sort of raised my spirits. Nobody talked to me much in here, so I was often as silent as stone, choosing to preserve my energy for the upcoming surgeries. With a shy voice, I replied, "Daren."

"I see, Daren is it? Hi Daren, My name is Theodore Avery, and I'm going to be your personal doctor." This time, the man smiled at me. The smile warmed my heart the exact same way my brother's smile did.

"Dr. Avery?" I said questioningly, "Why does your smile look like my brother's?"

"Eh?" The man paused, as if surprised, and then asked me, "Daren, do you have a brother?"

"Mhm," I nodded my head in response, "Devon's my older brother."

"Ah... Devon, is his name? Do you love your brother Daren?"

"Yes I do! I love my brother more than anything else in the whoooollllee world!" I dragged on the word "whole", just for emphasis.

The man chuckled, "Well Daren, be a good boy and live through these surgeries. We are trying to treat an illness that you have. Once you are cured, I promise you that you can find your brother after this."

"Wow really?" I was so excited. In this empty tunnel, I finally saw a glimmer of light. "If I can go through these surgeries, then brother will find me right?"

The man's voice cracked a little, and almost shakily replied, "Yes, Daren. Once you've survived the surgeries..."

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><p>"I only meant it as a joke actually, telling him he was sick," said the voice who was still sitting on the couch, "But he actually believed me. And all of those surgeries that must've been hell to go through, Daren went through them without even a single word. I felt the pain just by looking at him! You, Devon, you were his only hope of surviving through those catastrophic times. He believed with all of his heart that you would come for him, but I suppose even that has a limit."<p>

"Limit?" asked the other voice, now terribly anxious.

"Yes, you see, Daren always used to talk to me after his surgeries. We didn't chat for very long, since talking does waste his energy, but he would always talk about how you would come for him after the next surgery. He talked to me about his memories with you. He kept on believing, and thus, he kept on going. I admired Daren's persistence, and encouraged him to keep on hoping for his dream to come true. It's just that one day, after an excruciatingly painful surgery, Daren didn't talk about you, his brother, at all. He just remained silent. I thought he was just tired, so I didn't start a conversation. But the next day, and the day after that, he always remained silent. Finally, I realized something had to be wrong, so I asked Daren one day if he wanted to talk about you. And-and then..."

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><p>'Brother, it hurts so much! How can I live through this pain if you're not here for me?<p>

Brother, my entire body is aching, but I'm forced to stand up, again and again.

Brother, there seems to be no end to these surgeries...

Brother, where are you? Why are you not coming for me?_' _

'_Are you hurting, Daren?'_ came a voice within my mind, _'Do you want the hurt to stop?'_

'_Who are you?'_ I cautiously asked.

'_I am you Daren, I am the darkness that has been living in your mind. Now tell me, truthfully, do you hurt? Not physically, but in your heart?'_

'_Yes, I do.'_

'_Do you know why Daren?'_

'_No...'_

'_It's because your precious brother isn't coming back to get you. You've been left behind Daren, lost and forgotten.'_

'_You can't say that! That's not true!'_

'_And why is it not?'_

'_Because, because it's just not! Brother loves me!'_

'_Do you have any proof that he's coming back to get you?'_

I wanted to say yes. I really, really did. But I couldn't. What this voice was saying was true. I DIDN'T have any proof that Brother would come back to get me.

As if sensing my distress, the voice added, _'See? You don't have any proof! Now do you want the hurt to stop? Because I can make it stop, if you want.'_

The hurt, the pain, was going to consume me if I stay like this any longer. I knew that. For the first time in my life, I made a selfish wish.

'_Yes, I do want it to stop.'_

'_Good,'_ I could almost sense the voice smiling, _'Then I will help you get rid of the hurt. Forget, and life will be easier.'_

I felt my mind sink into a deep, bottomless abyss...

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><p>"And then? What did Daren say?" questioned the urgent voice who was sitting near the bed.<p>

"And then," the other, calm and collected voice suddenly started shaking, "He said,

'**What brother?'"**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Hii! Fourth chapter finally out. I spent quite some time on this chapter, as it was a bit longer than the previous ones. This chapter was written in Theodore Avery's point of view, so I tried very hard to make him 'in character'. Although he never showed much compassion for Daren in the original novels, I believed that deep inside, he really cared for the young boy. The same for Devon. I wrote Devon the way I believed he would have felt and acted if the plot became this way.

Note: I was reminded of Haruhi Fujioka when I was writing Theodore's part. Both of them were stuck in a very similar situation, being surrounded by filthy rich people. So I made a couple of connections to Ouran High in here, *coffee*, *Haruhi's catchprase* cough cough. I was actually thinking of writing a one-shot where Theodore actually went to Ouran, (on scholarship of course), and met Haruhi. It'll probably be a comedy, so there won't be much romance. What do you guys think? Reviews? They'll help encourage me! :)

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><p>After Daren fainted in the underground lab, and after numerous murdering attempts from Daren's older brother, who I finally recognized as THE Solaris Emperor, we finally reached Devon's luxurious castle-like mansion where we could talk freely. This wasn't easy, because Devon, as important and influential as he was, forgot the location of the secret door he came from. I resisted the urge to laugh, although quite badly, because I was sure I got a few chuckles out before his handgun swiftly warned me of another murderous attempt, when he told me he couldn't recall where the door was. It's quite rare for anyone to see the Solaris Emperor himself make a mistake, although for that matter, I'm sure Devon has made sure that none lived to tell the tale. So I quickly closed my mouth and began using my phenomenal memory of the laboratory to trace the path where Devon entered from.<p>

Although I was sure of how to get to the door, transporting Daren there would be another matter. His entire body shut down automatically, meaning the microchip must've overheated for some reason. It'll have to take at least another 24 hours before his microchip deemed his memory good enough to get going again. Especially when Daren's physical body was fortified with metal, and weighed 3 times the weight of both his brother and me. The only way would be to drag Daren along, and even then, it took both of our combined strength to just barely move Daren a few inches. Don't think I'm exaggerating when I say our little trip to the door was the most physically exhausting event that's happened to me since high school P.E. Hey, I'm a scientist alright? I was never good at athletics, and after taking so many hits to the face with a ball, I decided that I would never do sports again, or any physical exercise for that matter. It wasn't very encouraging either when Daren's older brother kept shouting obscenities at me, like "You're grabbing Daren's arm too forcefully!" or "I'm going to kill you if you step on Daren's hair one more time!"

Once we reached the door and entered a small tunnel leading to the inside of a washroom, I looked around, jaw hanging open in shock at the sight before me. This washroom was no ordinary washroom. Oh no. It had to be the most expensive, extravagant, epic, (I could keep on listing more 'e' adjectives, but I'll stop there), loo I've seen in my life. The bathtub we just came out of had to be the size of a king sized bed! The bathrobes I see hung in the corner had to be made of silk, and if my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, I would say that the toilet seat was made of solid gold. I could only begin to wonder at the price of having to renovate a washroom like this. But then again, I'm surrounded by filthy rich billionaires who could create a hole in the world's economy if they wanted to.

_'Rich bastards_,' I thought to myself, _'Why can't they just settle for some coffee? Coffee would make everything better, since coffee always made me feel better whenever I felt like dropping to the ground and never wake up again from exhaustion. Why can't they just have some coffee and calm down a bit before making the decision to renovate a million-dollar washroom? The money could be put to better use, like ending world hunger, giving me a raise, stopping Kony in Uganda, giving me a raise, being donated to orphanages, but most importantly, GIVING ME A RAISE. I think from all of the death threats Devon's put me through, I should definitely get paid more. The job description never involved selling both your heart AND body to the devil.'_

While my mind was processing through all that, I noticed from the corner of my eye that Devon looked at this washroom with pure disgust and contempt. It figures, since this was the place where my boss, or rather Devon's father hid Daren all these years. No wonder Devon hated this place so much. A split second later, Devon took out his cellphone, and quickly dialed a number. He then started giving the other person on the line immediate orders.

"Get me a car, now. You know where I am, so I expect a ride in the next minute as I walk down the stairs to the front gate. Then order this building and the laboratory underneath it to be demolished and annihilated. Make sure I never see this mansion again, ever in my life."

From the other party on the line, all I could hear was a swift, "Yes sir," before the click of the line represented that Devon had already hung up. Despite being mortally afraid of Devon's handgun, I still couldn't help feeling that this was all such a waste. His father must have put tons and tons of money into this bathroom, and then more money into building the lab underneath it. The lab still contained the latest state-of-the-art technology, not to mention several other things made during Dark Sun's surgeries. It would certainly be the most shameful event if Devon really demolished both the mansion and the lab. He should have as well gave them all to me! I would have made good use of them both. Just when I was going to put my life on the line and suggest this, Devon gave me a stern look and said, "Stop gawking around like a goldfish and hurry up! We need to get Daren to the front gate now, and don't you dare step on him again." He put his hand on his handgun, which was tucked inside his coat pocket, so I immediately concluded that now would not be good time to talk, no less to negotiate. So I 'gently' grabbed one of Daren's arms and continued the first gruesome physical exercise I've had in years.

* * *

><p>Everything else was a blur. The only thing I remember was the glare of the morning sun that blinded my eyes until I was ready to dig a hole and bury myself in it. I haven't been outside for a long time okay? Just don't ask me how long. Oh, and I also recalled a shiny black Ferrari and an ice-cream shop down by the street. When I finally came to my senses, I found myself in a room equally luxurious as the washroom I came out of, but this one was quite modern. The wine-dark curtains were drawn, giving the room a dim, comfortable feel. The contemporary purple couch I was sitting on was made of velvet, as smooth as a baby's face. I could also see a humongous canvas painting hung on one side of the wall. It looked surprisingly like Claude Monet's work, and knowing the Solaris Emperor and his power, I would've bet that that really was Monet's work.<p>

Meanwhile, I found Devon wearing a simple white dress shirt and matching black pants sitting on a red, hourglass shaped chair. He definitely didn't seem to comb his long, sun-blonde hair today, as it was quite unkempt and I could see strands popping up all over the place. Even with his casual look however, his air of sophistication and dignity could not be lost. I could still tell that he was one of the most influential people in the world, but the weary and anxious look on his face made me realize that something had to be unimaginably wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if the world ended by a gigantic tsunami, and Devon would still not spare anyone a glance. I followed his line of sight, and finally saw a huge scarlet canopy-like bed that held a sleeping boy inside. If I didn't know better, I would've thought the boy dead until I concluded that the silver haired teen had to be Daren. There was no way Daren could die; he's the invincible bodyguard I created. Unless, his microchip still has not recovered yet?

Now that I think about it, how long have I been out? From the drawn curtains, I couldn't really tell whether the sun was up or down, and there wasn't a single damn clock in this entire room. Just as I was about to say something, Devon stopped me by saying, "So tell me, what exactly happened in the 7 years that Daren was out of my reach?"

I swear, this man had to be psychic. Why is it that every time I was going to mention something, he cuts me off? How did he even know that I was awake in this gigantic room when his back was turned away from me and he was looking at Daren the whole time? I began to suspect that the Solaris Emperor really had eyes on the back of his head, or he was somehow modified like Daren. There was no way a human can sense these things, unless Devon had some sort of special instinct or intuition.

But my mind kept on going off track, so I decided to shake my doubts and answer his questions. Knowing the look on his face, my instincts told me that I was standing on thin ice here. I relayed all that I knew and observed about Daren in those 7 years. I told him about how I first met Daren, and his experiences in the lab. Finally, I reached the part when Daren's personality changed, all of a sudden. He even told me that he didn't remember he had a brother! Devon's faced paled, the instant he heard this. To say the truth, even I felt like shedding a tear of two. My voice faltered a few times as I told the story. The life of these star-crossed brothers just seemed to be so cruel. One waiting and one searching, until one of them finally lost hope. That, was Daren.

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><p>"Wh-what are you talking about? Don't joke around with me doctor, I can still end your life right here, right now. Daren... he, couldn't have forgotten me. I was his older brother!" shouted the now crying Devon.<p>

I could clearly see two streams of tears running down his face. I expected him to sob, to wipe his tears away, but he did neither. All he did was look at me with his watery crimson eyes, searching for a hint that I was lying to him. But I wasn't, I wasn't lying. This was something that I would never lie about, because Daren meant a lot to me as well. I mean, I wasn't his personal doctor for nothing over these 7 years right? I knew everything about Daren, his past, his memories, and his personality. As I thought about the possibility of Daren forgetting me someday, the prospect definitely wasn't something I'd like to consider. I didn't even realize when I started to crack up and started sniffling. The tears that appeared in my eyes seemed foreign to me, and I wondered how long it had been since I cried for someone.

Devon seemed to think the same. He looked at me weirdly, and pointed with his finger, "You're crying."

Without even thinking about it, I snapped back, "You are too, dumbass. Don't think that those tears on your face are fake just because you're the Solaris Emperor."

I immediately regretted what I said, and I was already thinking of a good position to die when I get a bullet through the head. But Devon instead wiped his face, and finding that his sleeve was wet, looked more surprised than me when I realized he wasn't going to kill me. It was as if the idea of crying seemed odd to him, and I also wondered how long it had been since he felt this painful. Perhaps I should've already considered my life fulfilled now that I've seen the Solaris Emperor cry.

But the two of us getting teary-eyed about this wasn't going to solve anything. So I decided to continue the conversation before Devon realized my previous outburst. "My guess is," I said, "that Daren may not have realized that he's forgotten you. Right now, I doubt he remembers anything of his past. From a scientist and doctor's perspective, it seems like Daren has repressed all of his memories as a self-preserving instinct."

"Self-preserving instinct?" quoted the confused Devon, "What are you blabbering about?"

"What I'm trying to say is, think about it from Daren's perspective! He's been waiting for a brother, an older brother that he loves and adores, an older brother that would come save him from the madness that he's been living in. All he had left of that older brother were his memories. All he wanted was for that older brother to come and protect him. But after so many years of torturous surgeries and trials, his older brother has still yet to come. Was his older brother even real? Or was it just a part of his dreams? Daren began to question himself, and I believe that was when his body decided that it would be best to suppress those happy childhood memories with you, his older brother. Because those happy memories have now turned to painful ones, and Daren probably couldn't take living with an empty dream. He most likely knew that if he kept on going, kept on waiting, with this hope that even he didn't fully believe in, he would someday go mad."

At this, the Solaris Emperor became completely silent, and I paused as well. We both looked into each other's eyes as we tried to absorb all that I said. Personally, I was shocked at myself for coming up with this deduction. It just sort of happened in the spur of the moment. I was quite mad myself before, because the ignorant older brother didn't seem to understand his little brother's inner thoughts at all. When Daren left, he was only 7! This was the age when children were most likely to be influenced, so how could you expect him to hold on to you for another 7 years? It's already a miracle that Daren survived through this, still healthy and sane.

I continued, "Did you know though, that after his memories were repressed, Daren's surgeries weren't going as well? It was like as if his only hope for living was gone. Could it be then, I thought, that Daren's mind and body were somehow battling each other? Daren's consciousness, that still remembers you but was banished and locked somewhere in his brain, was taking its toll on the rest of his body. I've never seen anything like it! Eventually, Daren's entire personality changed, and he was drifting further and further away from me. He was no longer the sweet, innocent boy that I met 7 years ago, but became more like a cyborg, only talking when asked to, and only obeying orders. He even became thinner and thinner, and I was scared he'll get malnutrition! The other scientists didn't care, but they loved Daren's new personality, and decided to ensue the final surgery, the implanting of the microchip. With this microchip, Daren, in both mind and body, would become a robot, capable of only listening to your commands. But I argued with my other co-workers, and I finally got to modify the microchip so that it had the 'emotion' switch. Ironically, it was only after the microchip surgery, that Daren got better. Sure, he didn't talk like he used to, but at least he was eating and healthy. It seemed that the microchip might have turned out to be good, because I think it gave Daren another reason to live. He lived to protect you."

Devon's eyes were watery with tears, and this time he realized it. Wiping it away, he surveyed my eyes with an intensity that seemed to corner me, rendering me unable to move. It was like a lion looking into the eyes of a mouse. I suppose that this was the glare that made his enemies bow before him. But, did he really think that intimidating me would work? Everything I said was the truth, at least, from my perspective.

Afterwards, seeing my defiance, Devon returned to his chair near Daren's bed, and sat down. He stroked the side of Daren's face and moved away some strands of hair that was covering Daren's forehead. Truthfully, this scene looked so beautiful, and the only part that could be improved was if the silver haired boy actually woke up and smiled at his brother. But Daren just laid there, motionless, and I could barely tell that he was even breathing.

Suddenly, Devon's fist banged on the bedside drawer with so much force, the sound echoed throughout the room. The resulting clash hurt my ears and made me flinch. Devon turned around, stood up again, and declared, "Damn it, I'm not going to sit here feeling sorry about the past. I've pitied myself for way too long. I'm the Solaris Emperor for God's sake, and I will do whatever it takes to help Daren retrieve his memories. So enlighten me doctor, there must be some way to help him."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Helllooo there! Sorry about not updating for a long time. School started and thus, more homework. But, this chapter also took a lot more planning to do, and I had to write several drafts before making the final version. It also took me a long time to get the characters right. Actually, after this chapter, things will start to not directly follow the original Eclipse Hunter storyline. Some events will still be the same, but I'm trying to separate myself from that and work on my own story. Anyways, enjoy! :)

Noteee: Thank you for Echo Mendiguren for beta reading this chapter and bearing with all my questions. You're a great editor, you know that?

Another note: More reviews guys! Give me your opinion on what you think about this story thus far. I need more constructive criticism!

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><p>'<em>Initiating... Memory chip restart... Emotion switch on... Microchip cool down complete. Warning, unknown human presence detected close to the right. Scanning unknown figure... Body and appearance check complete. Confirmed: Top priority master.'<em>

Dark Sun's eyes popped open, and in an anxious state started using his microchip to scan his nearby surroundings. He remained still on the bed, but his mind was busy trying to process many things at once. According to his microchip, it was around midnight right now, but Dark Sun wasn't really sure if the chip was still functioning correctly. The microchip had made a grave error shutting down like that all of a sudden, and Dark Sun made himself a mental note that deemed blanking out as a disastrous outcome for the future. What if when he passed out, someone had abducted or hurt the top priority master? He could not allow that to happen. If something bad happened to the master because of his carelessness, both Daren and himself won't be able to take the blow. He must never allow Daren's reason to live be destroyed again. It had happened once, and the results of that almost killed Daren both mentally and physically.

He pondered at this thought. It had been a long time since his consciousness awoke and took control. Ever since the microchip was implanted in Daren's mind, Dark Sun decided to step down and give full command of Daren's body to this new piece of technology. He was secretly glad that Theodore decided to implant the microchip, who always put it's master's safety above all else, since it gave the suffering Daren another justification to live. To Dark Sun, it was a form of escape and redemption from the guilt of erasing Daren's only life thread from his memories.

Truthfully, even he has forgotten who it was that was so important to Daren at the time. All he knew was that Daren's inner turmoils would consume and devour him until there wouldn't be a shred of humanity left in that tiny body. He only wanted to help Daren stop the pain, since he was Daren's alter personality that was supposed to protect Daren. He was born from Daren's deepest doubts and fears. It was his job to help eliminate anything that would make Daren feel sad, even if it meant erasing his memories. He never realized the extent of his actions that day until it was too late, because by deleting those memories, it had also killed all of Daren's dreams and hopes. The resulting Daren was nothing but an empty, bottomless black hole.

But now that Dark Sun was back, he was at a loss of what to do. He definitely remembered killing a man that was accompanying the top priority master down in the lab. He didn't particularly feel anything from murdering that man, since that person was the one who started it by pulling out a gun and pointing it's trigger towards the master. It was the first time that Dark Sun had killed a real person, but to him he felt more pride than regret. He admired at how smooth and fast his movements were as his hair extended and punctured through that man's heart. He could almost feel the heart give out and the blood flying from that fatal wound. His lips curled up just thinking about it. Indeed, he felt sort of relieved that he had became this strong, because only the strong can survive, and protect those they need to protect.

However, he knew that Daren wouldn't think this way. Daren, the innocent and childish Daren, would be horrified that he actually murdered a man. Of course, Daren really shouldn't be blaming himself for anything. It wasn't his fault. Back then, the microchip still had full control of his body, and it was programmed to kill anyone that threatens the master. Not even Dark Sun could've stopped the event from happening. It was only because the master commanded the emotion switch to be activated that his consciousness awoke in the first place.

Because of this, Dark Sun was in quite a stump. He didn't really know if he should kill any more, since it might hurt Daren very deeply. But there was no way he could stop killing. His microchip was programmed as a bodyguard for the world's richest and most influential man, so there should be no doubt about the dangers he would face protecting his master. Killing would be the most easy and efficient way to deal with enemies, but for Daren's sake, Dark Sun was contemplating whether or not to just injure the enemies enough to make sure that they would never move again. Would this way help satisfy his microchip and protect Daren?

'_Top priority master confirmed to be sleeping. No sign of dangers in unknown room. Problem! Why is master sleeping here, and not in his own bedroom? Best course of action: wake master up to see if he has any orders. Secondary course of action: carry master onto bed and allow him to continue sleeping.'_

Muttering obscenities under his breath, Dark Sun had no choice but to follow what the microchip said and carry out it's orders. Now that his repressed consciousness awoke, he couldn't help but find the small chip quite annoying. Why couldn't it shut up, just for a little while and give him some peace? But he couldn't disobey the chip, even if he wanted to. This, he thought, might lead to problems in the future, because he might be torn between protecting Daren and his master, both of whom were extremely important to him, albeit in completely different ways.

Irritated, he decided that the secondary course of action should be the best, since it felt quite rude to wake his master while sleeping. So although reluctant, Dark Sun stopped thinking and sat up from the bed. He stretched, and wiggled his fingers. Pleased that everything still felt the same, he got out of the bed and and carefully bent down to examine his master, who was sitting on a mahogany chair and was sleeping with his head placed on top of his arm, leaning on the bedside drawer.

It was the first time that he actually got a good look at his master's appearance. The master's sun-blonde hair was long and lustrous, so that it ran down to the small of his back. His skin was fair and smooth, and the white dress shirt he was wearing accentuated his slim yet fit figure. If Dark Sun stood at 5'9", then the master would probably stand at around 6'2". The master would be taller than Dark Sun by a few heads, and for some reason, he felt a bit perplexed by that. A few mischievous strands of hair covered the master's cheek, but revealed a slender face and a sculpted nose, that showed a very mature look. But throwing away the passing thought, Dark Sun slid one of his arms underneath his master's legs and one arm on his back, carrying him bridal style to the bed.

After placing the master on the bed and making sure he had covered a blanket on him, Dark Sun made his way to the wall and stood there next to the door. Through the rest of the night, he stood vigil for his peacefully slumbering master.

* * *

><p>It was close to morning, when footsteps, hurried and insisting, were coming closer and closer to the bedroom.<p>

Dark Sun's muscles immediately tensed up, and followed the microchip's orders without a second thought. He pressed his body close to the wall, and extended his right hand's fingernails, swiftly but silently, forming razor, metal claws. Using his left hand, he opened the door a slight crack, enough so he can see through it, but not allowing enough light into the room to wake up his master. Just as Dark Sun was about to attack, his eyes revealed to him a quite familiar figure.

Theodore Avery stood on the other side of the door, face pale and eyes wide. He never expected Daren to open the door, much less ready to attack him with his claws. No, this definitely wasn't Daren he saw right now, it was Dark Sun. The Dark Sun that put his master's safety over everything else, the Dark Sun ready to eliminate any source of danger towards his master. And right now, he was the target.

Knowing there wasn't anything he could do to stop Dark Sun from attacking him, Theodore's thoughts drifted to many places at once. He could try to scream, to perhaps get Devon's attention and make him order Dark Sun to stop, but that wouldn't work. By the time he opened his mouth, Theodore was sure that Dark Sun's fingernails would've already penetrated his heart. Another idea was to perhaps turn around and start walking from where he came from. Maybe that way he might not seem like such a threat to Dark Sun's master. Theodore just had to get as far away as possible from this room that Devon was in and Dark Sun was guarding.

After a few seconds of thinking, there was another problem tugging on Theodore's nerves. Why hasn't Dark Sun attacked him yet? Theoretically, Dark Sun should've killed him the moment he saw him, with no time for the target to even feel that he was killed. Theodore was ready and expectant for a quick death, but it has not come. So, the question was, why was Dark Sun hesitating?

Don't take Theodore wrong, he was really glad he still had a beating heart. There were still tons of experiments he had wanted to complete and test in his lifetime. He didn't really want to die here, by the hands of a cyborg that he created. But the fact that Dark Sun didn't attack might mean that a malfunction could be occurring in his microchip. Theodore decided he was going to have to check this problem if he ever got out of this deathly situation. He just couldn't bear to see one of his own perfect creations be flawed.

* * *

><p>'<em>Kill the intruder. Eliminate him. He has disturbed master while he was sleeping. Deemed as a future threat. Best way of attacking: stabbing metal claws straight into intruder's heart.'<em>

No, he couldn't possibly do that. This was Theodore, his surgeon who had helped him survive all those painful surgeries in the lab. Dark Sun knew that Theodore wasn't one that would attack his master. He knew that Theodore wasn't a bad person. But his microchip, it was ordering for Theodore's death. Dark Sun knew that Daren would be greatly hurt if he had killed Theodore, his only friend for the past 7 years, with his own hands. He had to protect Daren, but... But the microchip's order was absolute. He couldn't defy it any longer.

In slow motion, Dark Sun raised his right hand, as if indecisive of his next action. Then, as if on cue, a groan appeared from behind him, on the bed where his master was sleeping.

* * *

><p>Devon's head was groggy, extremely groggy. He hadn't slept for nearly 3 days altogether. The first few was spent planning out the murder of his father, and then another day taking care of Daren when they got back from the mansion. Unconsciously, sleep and must have overtook his overly-fatigued body. But wait, he was sure that he was leaning beside the bedside drawer, sitting on the chair before he fell asleep, so how did he end up here on the bed? He was looking at Daren the whole time, who was supposed to be sleeping on the very same bed. So, where in the world was Daren?<p>

Devon sat up so fast, all the blood rushed to his head and he felt a sudden wave of dizziness. After the wave of lightheadedness faded, his eyes took in what was happening. His precious younger brother, who was standing beside the door, has finally awakened! For a second, Devon was very excited, but the thoughts of hugging and patting his little brother's head soon escaped when he realized something about Daren was very off. Here was his dear little brother, with ridiculously long fingernails sprouting from one of his hands, ready to pounce on whomever it was that was standing opposite of the door. What's worse, Devon could clearly make out two streams of tears running down Daren's calm and collected face. A flush of anger filled Devon. Who was it that dared to make his beloved Daren cry? Devon swore that whoever it was, he was going to chop that person up into mince meat and then sell his corpse to the black market.

But he had to stop Daren from killing that person, even if that person deserved to die by making his younger brother cry. Devon definitely didn't want his little brother to have another man's death on his conscience, because killing his father was already enough guilt. Devon still couldn't forgive himself for allowing Daren to kill his father. How could he have allowed his only treasure to be tainted by hands of murder?

"Stop! Daren, stop!" came Devon's panicked voice.

With the order of his top priority master, Daren's microchip instantly stopped commanding Dark Sun to kill Theodore. Almost sighing with relief, Dark Sun turned towards his master, back straight as a ruler, and with his usual emotionless voice replied, "I am deeply sorry for disturbing master's sleep. There was an intruder who wanted to enter this room. Please accept my apologies, as I have created too much noise. It will never happen again."

Was Daren still going on with this 'master' thing? Did he still not recognize who he was? Devon's anger erupted once again, and a terribly loud, terribly menacing voice screamed out, "Theodore Avery, come in here right this instant! I have some unfinished business with you!"

According to the scientist, Daren should have already recovered his emotions after being commanded to open the switch. So why was the teenager who was standing in front of Devon still the cruel and merciless Dark Sun? Devon needed to settle things with this doctor once and for all. No one lies to the Solaris Emperor. No one.

Very fearful for his life, Theodore quickly contemplated whether or not to enter the room. Maybe he could turn tail and run for his life right now. As long as Devon didn't send Dark Sun after him, he was sure that he could make it out of this building. Even if he wasn't really good at sports, his life hung on the line, so maybe a burst of adrenaline could save him? But Theodore immediately displaced the thought, because knowing the control of the Solaris Emperor, there was no way he could ever escape Devon's grasp. Maybe if he entered the room right now, he could coax Devon's short temper and make him see reason. But the truth was, Theodore was just sure that Devon wouldn't kill him in front of Daren. Meekly, he pushed open the door, ready to meet with a fuming Solaris Emperor.

Instead, he was greeted by Dark Sun, who's face still had tears running down his cheeks. What's more surprising, was that Dark Sun didn't even seem to realize that he was crying, because his facial expression remained as cold and emotionless as ever. 'No wonder these two were brothers,' thought Theodore, 'They're so not true to themselves.'

'_Master has allowed the intruder into the room. But stand at ready in case the intruder tries to attempt something. At the slightest provocation, immediately kill the intruder.'_

Stand at ready? Dark Sun was always ready. He also knew that Theodore wouldn't for all the world try anything against his master. Immediately, he withdrew his right hand's fingernails, because right now, all he felt was relief and happiness that he didn't kill this doctor. After all, Dark Sun was pretty sure that Theodore mattered a lot to Daren, because this person was the only one who would smile and talk to Daren during his times of suffering. In a way, Dark Sun owed this doctor a lot for helping keep Daren happy. With an immense feeling of gratitude, Dark Sun pulled Theodore into a graceful, tight embrace. This was the only way he could say thanks to the doctor for Daren, and he hoped that Daren might be able to cheer up because of this.

Theodore was quite surprised when Dark Sun all of a sudden hugged him and wouldn't let go. He swore there had to be something malfunctioning in his microchip. There was no way that 'Dark Sun' would be able to show emotions like this, unless...

His train of thought was disrupted when he saw the jealous glare of a demon who Dark Sun had his back to, but he could clearly see. The Solaris Emperor was giving off a vibe of 'Get your dirty hands off my brother, or I'll swear I'll make you die the most tragic death you could ever think of' look to the other party.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Note: Sorry it took me so so long to update. Many things happened this month that kept me away from writing. Exams, break-ins into my house, and camp were among some of the few reasons. But hey, at least I've got started on chapter 7, so that won't be long at all. And thanks for reviewing! They were the motivation I got to finally start on this chapter. So continue to do so!

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><p>As Dark Sun finally relaxed his arms, Theodore immediately took the chance to peel himself away from the fit, young teen. He wasn't sure how long he could survive the Solaris Emperor's glare anymore, or even Dark Sun's life-choking hug, so it was good that Dark Sun decided to let go when he did.<p>

But now that Dark Sun had awakened, and for the most part, appeared to be functioning, it seemed that he really showed no recollection of Devon as his brother. Deep inside, Theodore truly felt sorry for the Solaris Emperor, until he snapped back to reality. This was the Solaris Emperor he was worrying about. His pity definitely wasn't needed. In fact, Devon might just have his hide if he said anything out of place.

Devon stepped down from the bed, and took a deep, long breath while looking at his little brother's face. Even if Daren didn't remember him, at least he's by his side now. At least the 7 year long search wasn't all for vain. At least Daren's alive and healthy. As for Daren's memories, that would come eventually. Comforting himself like this, Devon closed his eyes and recalled last night's long talk with Theodore...

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><p><em>"Damn it, I'm not going to sit here feeling sorry about the past. I've pitied myself for way too long. I'm the Solaris Emperor for God's sake, and I will do whatever it takes to help Daren retrieve his memories. So enlighten me doctor, there must be some way to help him."<em>

"_... I don't think it's impossible, I mean, for Daren's memories to come back. However, this will all depend on whether Daren himself will want to remember. After all, his situation is very unique. Not only does he have a microchip that monitors his every movement, but he also has split personalities. All these different sides will eventually contradict each other. So although its not impossible, the likelihood of Daren remembering you would be pretty low. If, of course, the emotion switch doesn't trigger some of his memories."_

"_But its not impossible right?"_

"_Its not impossible, but you need to understand that-"_

"_As long as there is a chance, I will put my all into exploiting it. I've accomplished things that were deemed 'impossible'. So I have faith in my persistence. I'm really not called the Solaris Emperor for nothing you know, I do have quite the good reputation when it comes to achieving things that I've put my mind to..."_

"_Well-"_

"_However, if Daren really awakened and doesn't recognize me, then you can't tell him I am his older brother. Don't even hint or imply it. I want Daren to find out on his own when he wants to. I have faith in him as well. Who knows, if he remembers me, he'll also remember all the pain he went through during those 7 years. I'll... think of some ways to trigger his memories, but you absolutely can't tell him anything!"_

* * *

><p>Devon may have said that to Theodore in the spur of the moment, but right now, facing his younger brother, he's at a complete loss of what to do. How in the world was he ever going to get Daren to remember him if he doesn't first say that he's his older brother? And even if he blurts out the truth, what would happen to Daren? Would he even take him seriously? Or would Daren's memories come back, and cause Daren to remember all the torture he went through? Or worse yet, would Daren blame him for not coming when he was suffering during those years? Devon cringed at the thought. He was terrified of that. He just couldn't bear to look into Daren's accusing and teary eyes, demanding why Devon didn't protect him.<p>

"Daren, you must be tired. Why don't you go with Theodore and get some rest?"

Devon mentally slapped himself. After 7 years, this was the only thing he could manage to say to Daren? Where was his usual cool demeanor?

"Yes master."

"And stop calling me master! Call me Devon."

"Master Devon?"

"No, just Devon. Don't ever use the word 'master' again, okay?"

"Yes... Devon?"

"There you go, now hurry and let Theodore take you to a room to rest. If you need anything, just call for him. Or rather, call him to call me, okay Daren?

'_Call name for master changed to Devon.'_

The order rang loud and clear in Dark Sun's head. He's really starting to hate this microchip. Its starting to get on his nerves. Not to mention that it keeps on telling him to do things he doesn't want to do.

"But Devon, my microchip tells me to stay with you at all times. I cannot leave your side."

"What? Your microchip?" said Devon, "Ignore its orders Daren, and do what you feel like. How do you feel right now?"

Dark Sun's remodeled body didn't allow the feeling of fatigue. But he did have a pounding headache listening to the microchip's annoying blabbering. Plus, he had really wanted to go with Theodore, since he was the only person he could talk to right now. Still, was that enough reason to leave Devon's side?

"Come on Dark- I mean, Daren. I know the reboot of the microchip must've been hard on you," said Theodore, "Let's head over to my room, I'll see what I can do to help."

At this, Theodore tried to drag Dark Sun out of the room. But there was no way he could pull the weight of Dark Sun's steel-enforced body. Dark Sun didn't even budge an inch, despite Theodore's best attempts.

Theodore sighed. He had wanted to hurry and do a check-up on Dark Sun, just to check for any malfunctions. There were many intricate questions forming in his mind, and he really needed Dark Sun's answers.

Devon on the other hand, knocked away Theodore's arm, and adding a fierce glare, said, "Daren doesn't need you to boss him around. He can go anywhere he wants to. If he doesn't want to follow you, it's fine. He can stay in my room. Right, Daren?"

Like a puppy looking for back up, Devon glanced at Daren with the most sweetest eyes one can ever imagine on an egoistic business person. Personally, it made Theodore want to snicker in amusement, but he successfully hid it under a strict poker face.

Dark Sun immediately wanted to decline Devon's offer. Devon wasn't someone he knew very well yet. Their relationship right now was only that of a bodyguard protecting his master. Truthfully, he still didn't understand why Devon kept on fussing over him, and he especially didn't like the glares Theodore was getting from Devon. If Dark Sun wasn't mistaken, Devon was always giving off a slight murderous aura every time something was connected to Theodore and himself. Right now, all Dark Sun wanted to do was to have a chat with Theodore in peace. But his microchip was in the way...

"I would like to visit Theodore's room, but my microchip orders me to stay here with you, Devon." said Dark Sun.

A bit dejected that Daren didn't want to stay with him, Devon decided that as long as it was his little brother's wish, he would fulfill all of them. Smiling, Devon ran his hand over his long golden hair, and sighed, "Alright Daren I'm going to teach you something okay? It's very important that you remember this. If your feelings and your microchip contradict, always listen to your feelings first. This is an order, so your microchip won't bother you as much now. Alright? Now go with Theodore and take a long rest."

Dark Sun's microchip immediately settled down. There were still the options that the microchip told him he should do, but he no longer felt compelled to fulfill those orders if he didn't want to. Relief spread over his tense body and for the first time, he felt an emotion akin to gratefulness towards Devon. Giving a bright grin, he said, "Thank you, Devon."

Devon almost stumbled backwards in shock, but the businessman part of him kept his feet steady. Daren actually smiled at him! For the first time in 7 years, he finally got to see his little brother's smile. Almost reaching out for a brotherly embrace, Devon stopped himself halfway and decided to just content himself with a pat on Daren's head. It was an old habit that he used to have when Daren was young. Daren would always laugh and grin when Devon patted him on the head. Oh how Devon missed those times! He could feel himself mentally tearing up about this, but his outward expression remained cool. Thank god for all the practice he got for hiding his real feelings. Devon didn't really want Daren to see him emotional like this.

"Don't worry about it Daren. Remember, if you ever need anything, just call Theodore! He'll bring you anything you need!"

Theodore rolled his eyes. What was he good for in this place? A genius scientist serving a cyborg? What has this world gone to? Regardless, he led Dark Sun out of the Solaris Emperor's room and headed down the hallway that would lead to his temporary lab that Devon had provided him.

* * *

><p>~Some time later, in Devon's room~<p>

Devon really needed someone's opinions right now. And what better person than his own personal assistant, Kyle? Dialing the numbers, Devon started wondering about all the things he could buy Daren to make him happy. But his thoughts were interrupted when Kyle picked up.

"Yes Emp?" came the formal voice of Kyle on the other line.

"Bill, your opinion is needed. Now stop whatever you're doing and listen to me," replied Devon.

"Emp, my name is Kyle, not Bill."

"Whatever! I call you Bill because I feel like it!"

A sigh came across the line, as the other party put down a massive stack of papers.

"Now Bill, Daren has woken up. I've never really thought about what I should do after he woke up, because I just decided that I would always keep him with me. But now that I think more about it, I feel like Daren should just be a normal teenage boy. I want him to fit into society and have a normal life. How do you think I should accomplish this?"

A puzzled voice replied, "But Emp, does Daren remember you? Wasn't that what you were most apprehensive about?"

Devon's matter-of-factly voice retorted, "Well that would come in time when Daren wants to remember. I don't want to force him to do anything. Besides, don't you see that if he has more experiences, it might trigger some of his memories about me? Likewise, even if he did remember me right now, I don't think that would necessarily be a good thing. There was a reason why his body erased his memories. It was because it was too much for Daren to bear at the time. So if he does remember me, I have to make sure that he can take it."

"And... you want him to achieve this while still being a normal teenage boy?" The voice on the line sounded skeptical.

"I believe he could. My intuition has never failed me before. Now come on Bill, I need some ideas! How can I get Daren to 'fit in'? Or what do teenage boys normally do at his age?"

Devon could hear typing on the line. There was a short pause before there was any response from Kyle. "Well Emp, I see that normal teenage boys really like video games. There are some really popular handheld devices right now that are all the rage. Apparently, um... let's see, love simulation devices are pretty popular, and then fighting ones are too."

"Fighting ones? No, never. That would be a terrible influence on Daren. He already has too much experience in that. As for love simulators, I'll think about that. Anything else, Bill?"

More scrolling and typing could be heard. "Well, teenagers all like to keep up with fashion. Recently, the trend is piercings and tattoos on boys. Also, um, it appears that listening to pop music is also pretty popular."

Piercings? Tattoos? No way in hell was Devon going to let Daren get those. Back when Devon was young, fashion meant jeans and polos and maybe the occasional tux. After he had entered the company that his father owned, Devon didn't have time for fashion anymore. All of his clothes were supplied to him by a personal fashion designer who kept track of those stuff for him. Maybe hiring a fashion designer for Daren would be good choice as well? But what if they dress up Daren in weird clothes? No, Devon needed to make sure that Daren doesn't embarrass himself in public.

"Bill, immediately hire a fashion designer for Daren. But make sure that whatever the designer comes up, it has to reach me first before Daren can wear it."

As for the pop music, Devon wasn't sure if Daren could sing. But whatever his little brother sang, it had to be good.

"And to add to that Bill, get Daren a personal karaoke machine with the latest technology and songs."

"Yes Emp. Anything else?"

Devon paused a minute. Why was it that these things seemed very general to him? Like they weren't things that Daren would benefit from immediately.

"Bill, what did you do as a teenager?"

The answer was quick and decisive. "I spent my youth working under your father as his personal assistant."

The answer reminded Devon of Kyle's past. Ever since he had met Kyle, Kyle had always been the responsible and hardworking assistant. First for his father, and now for him. Devon always pushed all the documents onto Kyle so that he would have time to worry about Daren. Sometimes, Devon wondered if Kyle was really a robot. It seemed that however much work gets pushed to him, he could always finish it on time. In fact, Kyle wasn't any older than Devon himself.

Well obviously his assistant didn't have a very 'normal' teenage life. But Devon had it worse. He was always pressured by his father to take over the company, and thus spent all his time studying, studying and more studying. In what little free time he had, he used it to worry about Daren. This definitely wasn't the kind of life he wanted his little brother to be lead.

"How about this, Emp. Daren's at that age where campus life would be very important to him. Why don't you send him to school?"

A lightbulb lit up inside Devon's head.

"Bill, get me a list immediately of all the prestigious high schools in the country. I will ask Daren tomorrow to see if he wants to go to school."

* * *

><p><span>Ending Note:<span> Devon actually does always mix up Kyle's name in the original series. I found it really really funny, so I had to add it in here somewhere. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Note: Hi guys! Another chapter done. Please continue reviewing and enjoy! :)

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><p>Theodore pushed open the door leading to his laboratory. Many colorful chemicals and weird looking test-tubes filled the tables and shelves. Dark Sun carefully noted living things wriggling around in colorful fluids and a bunch of corpses propped up on examining tables. Theodore pointed to the only free examination table, and got straight to the point.<p>

"Alright Dark Sun, let's do your physical examination. You know the drill."

Dark Sun, not in the least bit deterred or surprised, climbed up onto the table, and took off his shirt. Theodore then immediately started poking needles and setting up equipment to test all the functions of his body. Dark Sun was used to this, as back in the lab, before the microchip was implanted, he often remembered Theodore doing daily check-ups on him like this. He also wasn't surprised that Theodore recognized him as who he truly was, as Dark Sun, and not Daren. Devon apparently just always thought he was Daren. But Theodore knew about his situation, which meant that he was the only person Dark Sun could talk to right now.

"So, I see that everything still looks the same, Theodore." Came Dark Sun's amused voice.

"Hm... Let's see, heart rate is normal, all bodily functions have no problems... Um, yes, I still like to experiment on many 'things.'" replied Theodore, mumbling to himself.

Dark Sun laughed and said, "Oh how I feel sorry for the 'things' you're 'playing' with."

Theodore was going to come up with a retort for that, but sighed impatiently instead. Turning around to face Dark Sun, he decided there was no more reason for small talk anymore.

"Let's not beat around the bush anymore shall we?"

Theodore's eyes grimly met Dark Sun's.

"I'm your personal doctor, so I should know you and Daren the best. That's why I knew from the beginning that you weren't Daren. Tell me, where is Daren right now? And why are you, Dark Sun, still here?"

A dramatic pause ensued before Dark Sun decided to get up from the bed. Ripping away all the cords that were attached to his body, he stepped down from the table and walked in Theodore's direction.

"I expected no less from you Theodore. At least you knew that I wasn't Daren," chuckled Dark Sun, "Devon didn't even notice."

Seeing the formidable Dark Sun nearing him, Theodore refused to move. He didn't want to show Dark Sun that he was afraid of him. If Theodore's hypothesis was correct, then Dark Sun was still an unstable alter ego of Daren. There was no way to know what Dark Sun might be thinking, or what he might do next.

Noticing Theodore's stiffness, a smile perked up on Dark Sun's cheeks. Teasingly, he flashed a brilliant smile at Theodore, saying, "See? Don't I look like Daren right now?"

Theodore recognized that smile, and there was no way he would forget it. That was the exact same smile that Daren gave him when they first met. The same smile upon the same face, and yet the two held completely different meanings.

Still acting like Daren, Dark Sun tauntingly approached Theodore. Using sweet puppy eyes, he asked the doctor, "Do you really want me to disappear? You could say that I am also Daren. So how do you know which one's him and which one's not? How do you know that I am not real and Daren is? After all, aren't we technically the same 'person'?"

Theodore was shocked for a few seconds, unable to get over how similar Dark Sun and Daren really were. But his scientific reasoning saved him in the end.

"Stop teasing me Dark Sun. I know you two aren't the same person. You should also know that this body isn't yours. It's Daren's. So stop wasting time. Tell me if Daren is still in there somewhere, or if he really disappeared!"

Dark Sun's bright smile instantly faded, and was replaced with his normal un-amused, composed face. Stretching, he said, "Well you're no fun, doctor. I wanted to see what kind of reaction you'll have if I acted like Daren."

He walked back to the table and sat down again. "If you're that worried about Daren, then don't worry, he's still here. I can feel that he is, but I don't know when or how long it's going to take for him to resurface."

Theodore looked doubtful towards Dark Sun.

"What?" came Dark Sun's voice again, "If you're scared I'm lying, you shouldn't be. I was born to protect Daren. So there was no way I would intentionally do anything bad to him.

Dark Sun noticed Theodore clenching his fists.

"Then, if Daren really awakened someday," said Theodore, whose voice was grave and serious, "Would you be willing to relinquish your control of Daren's body?"

Dark Sun merely smiled at this. So this was what Theodore was most afraid of. But as usual, he had a right to be scared. It was true that when the time came, Dark Sun doesn't have to give up hold of Daren's body to Daren's awakened personality. The two sides would probably clash and fight with each other until one side's existence was erased. Most likely, Dark Sun would probably win, and that would mean that Daren's existence would also completely disappear.

Of course, the opposite would happen to Dark Sun if he decides to abdicate control of Daren's body. Either way, the result would be the same. There could only be room for one dominant personality in a human body.

But Dark Sun never gave this any deeper thought. It had seemed natural to him at the moment that when the time comes, he would give back all control to Daren.

"Theodore, you don't have to worry about that. I've never intended to keep this body for myself anyways."

An insistent rap came from the door.

Theodore threw his hands up in the air, as if in exasperation. "I swear if it was that annoying maid who keeps on nagging me to clean up this room again; I will personally throw this acid at her to shut her up.

Grabbing an unknown purple liquid, Theodore stormed towards the door and threw it open.

"Stop coming back, you ugly maid! Don't you know that I have tons- tons of... stuff to do?

On the other side of the door, stood the cross-armed, un-amused Solaris Emperor, who obviously was expecting a more courteous welcome. His glare seemed to loom and overpower the scientist, who Dark Sun could see was ready to melt himself into the purple liquid that he was holding.

With an extremely arrogant voice, Devon stuck up his nose and looked down on Theodore, saying, "Now who's this ugly maid, hmm, doctor? Would you care to tell me why you called me, the great Solaris Emperor, such disgusting names?"

Theodore desperately tried to get himself out of the hole that he dug himself in. But the Emperor's rage will not be stifled.

"And even if there was a maid that was nagging you. She had good reason to! Look at the state of this lab! I provided to you one that was shiny and impeccable, and in less than 48 hours, you've turned it into a rat's nest!" said Devon, continuing, "Besides, I resent that 'ugly' comment. All the maids that work in here were handpicked by Kyle. And I trust that he would never allow a blemished weed to be among a garden of roses!"

Theodore slightly edged away from the raging Devon. He had a feeling that the Emperor was somehow more of a nagger than the maid.

"Plus, not to mention..." Devon's angry voice suddenly stopped, as his eyes met Dark Sun's. Lip tight, fists clenched, and eyes grim, Devon's original deep bass suddenly raised an octave.

"You worthless doctor! What in the world is Daren doing without his shirt on?"

Devon pointed to Dark Sun, and mouth as if spouting fire, began to give Theodore the biggest lecture of his life.

"You, you! I trusted you to bring Daren here to rest, not to do whatever you want with him! What were you even going to do to him if I didn't come? Wait; don't tell me, I don't want to know. You were probably going to, to..."

Devon covered his hands on his face, as if at a loss of what to do. His mind was full of evil fantasies that the doctor might've been doing to Daren before he came. But even so, he continued the lecture.

"No wonder I see all those weird knives and needles everywhere! You were going to test them out on Daren when I wasn't looking huh? And all those, those corpses that are just hanging there! They must be your previous failed experiments! After you're done with whatever you were going to do to Daren, he'll probably look just like one of those corpses. Am I right? Also, what if Daren caught a cold? Huh? Have you ever thought of that? What if he got sick right after he woke up because you took away his shirt? I'd have your hide! But wait, just your hide isn't enough! I'll have to find a way to kill you a hundred times to repay for what you've done to Daren!"

Theodore slowly backed away. Step by step. He had to get as far away as he could from the dragon that was spewing fire right now. He had no idea what weird fetishes that Devon thought he had, but he would argue that he had none of those. What blasphemy! He was being falsely accused of such weird crimes that Devon's thinking of on the spot!

Before Devon could recover from the initial shock, Theodore had already reached the examination table where Dark Sun was sitting. The silver-haired teen had an equally surprised look on his face. His eyes were tense as he gently reaching down to grab his shirt. Quickly putting it on, Dark Sun gave a look of distress to Theodore, as if silently asking him, "What should I do?"

Theodore waved his arms toward Devon, intending to make Dark Sun say something to calm down his fire-breathing brother. But Dark Sun must've got the wrong message, because he jumped down from the examination table and hid behind it, as if avoiding the scary Solaris Emperor.

Theodore's lips gave an insincere smile. This must be the first time that Dark Sun saw someone get mad like this. Even though Dark Sun looked like a teenager, at heart, he really only had the experiences of a child.

But Devon's eyes' didn't miss this event. Eye's glowing with fire; he once again began to push the blame towards Theodore.

"Look you evil doctor! You scared Daren! You made him hide behind the table in fear! But it's ok Daren, because I'm here. I won't let this crazy doctor take advantage of you anymore!"

Devon pushed away Theodore, clearly aiming for Dark Sun. But Dark Sun abruptly stood up and backed away, shouting, "Don't misunderstand Devon! It was only a physical check-up!"

Devon and Theodore both froze in place. Theodore's jaw dropped. Silently crying to himself, he mumbled, "Why Dark Sun why? As if I wasn't screwed enough before..."

Devon immediately turned on Theodore, and gave him a white hot glare that meant, 'I'll deal with you later'. Again heading towards Dark Sun, he said, "It's ok Daren! No matter what he did to you, I'll still accept you for who you are! I'll just cut off his... and then make sure his... as punishment!"

Theodore found Devon getting increasingly creepy. He was muttering those obscenities while smiling the most sincere smile at Dark Sun. Theodore also began to wonder if Devon also had split personalities.

It also seemed that Dark Sun felt the same way. Although his face only showed the slightest discomfort, Theodore could tell that Dark Sun was completely at a loss of what to do. Indeed, it took quite a long time for both Dark Sun and Theodore to explain the situation and calm down Devon. But, eventually, the fire-breathing dragon died down and turned into a protective mother hen.

* * *

><p>~Sometime later, in Theodore's personal room~<p>

"Daren!" said Devon excitedly, "I got you many wonderful things that you might like!"

Dark Sun was sitting on a couch a few ways away from Devon, who seemed to be lost in his own little world. The teenager swore he could see flowers and stars surrounding the golden haired businessman. Cocking his head to one side, Dark Sun wondered at the difference between the Devon he saw now and the Devon he first met.

Devon's smile was getting wider and wider. Look how cute Daren looked with his head tilted like that! Just like a puppy!

"I got you new games Daren! I'm sure you'll love them!"

Theodore, who was banished to the far corner of the room, almost laughed out loud. Dark Sun? Playing games? Now that's like a giving a dog a cat to play with.

"Games? Can I see them? Are they fun to play?" replied Dark Sun enthusiastically.

Theodore's jaw dropped again. Well, that was unexpected.

"Of course! I got you the newest love simulation game that's all the rage right now!" said Devon, handing the game console and card to Dark Sun. He was obviously relieved that Dark Sun was interested in games at least.

Theodore's jaw dropped even further. Out of all the games in the world, Devon chooses love simulation games for his little brother?

"Love simulation games? Are they fun to play?" Dark Sun asked ecstatically, eagerly receiving Devon's gifts.

"Sure! I've never tried it, but I'm sure that you'll find it interesting! This is the latest model, so it's normally not out yet for the market!" replied Devon.

Theodore's jaw dropped to his feet. Devon was actually serious about the love simulation game?

"Wow, thanks Devon!"

Devon's heart was all aglow. "And I've got more presents for you Daren! I've hired a personal fashion designer to keep you up-to-date with all the fashion trends."

"Fashion trends? Like cool capes and crowns and suits?"

"If you want them, then you can have them all."

Theodore's jaw was practically rolling around on the floor now, if that was even possible. What was Devon after? Hiring a fashion designer? And Dark Sun's idea of fashion was just too immature. It must have come from childhood fairytales of princes and superheroes. Not to mention, that Devon actually agreed to give them to Dark Sun.

"Plus, I've also prepared a personal karaoke machine for you!" said the now on-a-roll Devon.

"Wow! A karaoke machine? What's that?"

"It's a machine where you sing songs and-"

"Wow! You can sing songs on there?"

"STOP!" shouted Theodore, who was unable to take the madness anymore. How in the world was he witnessing this? The most influential businessman and the most deadly bodyguard talking about love games and fashion and karaoke machines?

"Theodore, did you want a karaoke machine too?" said Dark Sun, who was obviously trying to act innocent.

Theodore felt his own forehead. Was he having a fever right now? Maybe he was hallucinating. After all he's been through these couple of days; he wouldn't be very surprised if he was.

"Devon, I brought you to my room because you said that you had something important to ask Dark- I mean Daren. So why are you talking about games and fashion and songs? Surely your 'important thing' had to be more important than this."

Devon immediately got his usual business-like demeanor back. Clearing his throat, he said, "I can talk to Daren about whatever I want. But it's true, I did have something to ask you today Daren."

Dark Sun turned to face Devon.

"Would you like to go to school Daren?" asked Devon.

"School..." Dark Sun never really bothered to think about this at all. Not in his wildest dreams did he expect to go to school. What would school be like? Would he have fun there? Would Daren like to go to school?

"School? No I object!" shouted Theodore from the other side of the room.

Devon immediately turned on Theodore. "You have no right to object to anything! Daren can choose to do anything he wants!"

"But you have to understand Devon! Daren no matter what is still not a normal teenager anymore! He has powers and knowledge that are far above any other normal teenager his age!" argued Theodore.

"No one has to know that! And even if the occasional secret leaks out, I'll keep it hidden. I have my ways." countered Devon.

"But his microchip! It won't-"

"Theodore's right" added Dark Sun. "Even if I may want to go to school; my microchip won't allow me to. Besides, I still want to be near you to protect you if anything happens."

Devon sighed. He knew that this problem would come up. From his pocket, he drew out a sleek, black cell phone.

"Here Daren, this is a cellphone. You can call me or Theodore anytime using this," said Devon, "And I promise if I have any problems, I will call you. Likewise, if you need help with anything, call me as well ok?"

Dark Sun gently took the cellphone from Devon. It felt cold and smooth under his hands. With this, could he really go to school and fulfill his duty at the same time?

Theodore was fed up. No one ever respected his opinions anymore. So he decided that he wasn't going to talk to either of the brothers until one of them untied him from this chair.

"So Daren, here's a list of all the most prestigious high schools in the country. Pick which one you like, and then I'll buy the school for you. That way, even if anything was found out about you, I'll be able to have the power to stop rumors before they spread." said Devon, handing Daren a list.

Theodore mentally shook his head. Those rich bastards, they just buy anything and everything that benefits them.

Dark Sun's eyes scanned through all of the schools on the list. Using the Wi-Fi in his microchip, he quickly accessed all the data about these schools. They all had one thing in common: social status. If one was the son of an accomplished CEO, they could attend these schools. For those who had no class, they were all rejected. Dark Sun felt uneasy in that atmosphere. He didn't know anything about himself, so the identities of his parents were also unclear to him. What if he wasn't 'classy' enough to attend these schools?

Abandoning the list, Dark Sun quickly collected detailed info on all available high schools in the country. He was looking for a school that would catch his eye. In a matter of seconds, he had already gone through several thousand high schools. Finally, a name appeared to him.

_'Yelan Academy: Renowned for its famous battle simulator. A school made especially to train teens for combat.' _

Perfect.

"Devon, I would like to attend Yelan Academy!"

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><p>Ending Note: I can't wait till I start writing the next chapter! Finally Dark Sun gets to go to school. I've always wondered how his cold, emotionless figure would fare in a school environment. But not gonna be sure when the next chapter will be up. Final projects and piano exams come first! :)<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

This chapter really took a lot out of me. First, homework distracted me from it, then final exams, then summer school, and then Skip Beat. As soon as I read it, I couldn't stop until I was finished. Thus now more time was wasted. But I finally got it done! And the other chapters shouldn't be too far away either :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

Theodore carefully sipped his coffee and opened up the morning newspaper. The taste of caffeine and the smell of rich boiled coffee beans comforted and relaxed his senses. Looking outside the window, the day was bright and sunny, and not a hint of clouds in the sky. Leaning back onto his thickly padded chair, he sighed with content. Now this was something he could get used to. Living in his own house, experimenting in his own personal lab, and doing whatever he wanted. Now everything would be perfect had it not been for the noisy hustling and bustling right next to his ear. Shaking his head, Theodore put down the newspaper to look at the disastrous comedy that was unfolding before his eyes.

Devon, the usual egomaniac, was hurrying to dress up his little brother for his first day of school. He knew that making a good first impression was very important, and he really didn't want Daren to face any kind of teasing from students in the school. Of course, if word that people were teasing Daren ever reached Devon, he would track those people down and make sure they never show their face in public again.

Still, Devon just wanted Daren to fit in and make some friends. Although Devon personally never had many friends in school, since all he had was tools and enemies. One was either going to be of use to Devon, or they might as well be one of the ants that Devon crushes down. So making friends was going to be new to him too. But Devon didn't want his cute little brother to face those kind of situations. While mumbling to himself, he took out a turtle-neck sweater and a pair of glasses that covered up the top half of Daren's face. While adjusting the glasses and helping his little brother into the sweater, Devon smiled and dreamed of the happy campus life that Daren would soon lead.

Theodore could only look at this scene with a look of pure bafflement. He'd seen many surprising things in his life. He'd even witnessed many previously thought impossibles become the possible. But never in his life had he ever felt so sorry for someone just by looking at them getting ready for school.

Devon stepped back and admired his creation. Daren was fit snugly into the green turtleneck sweater and a pair of skinny blue jeans. For shoes, Devon picked out a pair of black runners. The sunglasses on Daren successfully hid the confused expression of his face. Devon couldn't help but compliment himself on his fashion choices. With these clothes, Daren will be sure to make tons of friends!

Dark Sun looked down at his sweater and tried to stretch his arms, unsuccessfully. Looking puzzled, he took off his sunglasses and asked Devon, "Are we done?"

Devon nodded approvingly, "Yep we are. My hard work on picking clothes wasn't for nothing. Have confidence Daren! All your friends will compliment you on your fashion sense today when you go to school."

Coffee erupted from Theodore's mouth, which splatted over the entire breakfast table. Dark Sun looked at him with a look of surprise while Devon gave Theodore a look of disgust. Theodore, realizing his outburst, mentally felt very lucky that Devon didn't shoot him down right then. Awkwardly wiping his mouth with a napkin and using the newspaper to bulkily wipe down the table, he coughed stumblingly to end the stifling silence.

"Ahem, so... Devon, didn't you say that you previously hired a fashion designer for Daren? There was really no need to spend your precious time picking out clothes for such a trivial matter."

Devon 'hmph'-ed, a very unrefined gesture for the Solaris Emperor, and replied, "Time spent on Daren is time well spent. Besides, the fashion designer wasn't to my liking."

Theodore smiled sarcastically. Trying to save Dark Sun from a lifetime of embarrassment, he continued the conversation.

"So, what about the designer didn't you like? You could always have just asked them to change their style you know."

Devon shook his head and was about to say something, until his assistant, Kyle, cut in.

"Emp fired the designer because she came to work 5 minutes late. It was against the standard Solaris Company protocol and at least 6 different section rules."

Devon, satisfied, nodded his head in agreement.

The green-eyed scientist couldn't help but look up at alarm when Kyle started talking. Truthfully, he didn't even know the Solaris Emperor's assistant was standing there the whole time. Looking at where Kyle was standing, Theodore should have easily noticed his presence, but somehow, it was like Kyle appeared out of thin air holding his usual laptop and business leather bag. Could it be, that the Solaris Emperor's assistant possesses not only the tirelessness of a robot, but also the hiding skills of a ninja? Besides, what a lame excuse to fire someone!

"Well then... Why not just hire another designer for Daren?"

Devon sighed, "I thought of that at first. I mean, there's tons of other famous designers I could've called upon. But then I thought that it might be better for me to pick all of Daren's clothes personally, just to show how important he is." Devon turned around and elegantly smiled at his little brother, only to be greeted with a blank look from Daren.

Laughing to himself, Theodore realized that this was just another twisted way for Devon to show his love for Dark Sun. But still, the most important matter has yet to be solved. Theodore can't let Dark Sun's first day be ruined because of his incompetent brother's fashion sense.

"Did the designer sketch out any drafts of outfits yet?"

Devon started, "I suppose she did, since she was supposed to-"

"Bring her completed drafts to hand in to Emp that day." Kyle cut in again and started rummaging through his leather bag, trying to find the papers. "Here it is."

Theodore received the papers and flipped through them briefly. When he was young, he too didn't bother with fashion too much, since studying took up most of his time. Heck, he didn't even have time to get a girlfriend in his school years. But to those that had the free time, love and fashion weren't a problem for them. Secretly, Theodore was extremely jealous of those people, and often looked at them with envy. Looking at these papers, Theodore was reminded of those 'free' people all over again. Very fancy yet simple. Elegant to the finest detail. Classic and modern enveloped together into a collaboration of clothes that one would call, "absolutely beautiful."

"What did you say?" said Devon, quite curious, since he himself never looked at those designs. He fired the designer before she even had time to take the sketches out of her bag. How Kyle had the designs in his possession was beyond him.

Theodore never meant to say that out loud. "Nothing. N-nothing at all."

Damn, it would be so sad to let clothes like these go to waste. Wearing these, Theodore wouldn't be surprised if Dark Sun created a new fashion trend. But how in the world would Devon be convinced to let Dark Sun wear them?

But thank the fangirls that Kyle cut into the silence. "Emp, the meeting starts in 15 minutes. You have yet to get dressed and it will take at least 10 minutes to get there."

Devon shoved back, "Delay the meeting. I wanna send Daren to school myself."

"I can't do that. This meeting requires the CEO's of 10 of the world's most important companies. There will be no other time where so many giants of the business world will be able to meet again. It is of the utmost importance that we attend. Since the Solaris Company is number 1 in the rankings, not attending the meeting would be revealing to the media that you're forfeiting that same spot."

That seemed to finally mean something to the Solaris Emperor.

"Alright. Fine." sighed Devon, "But there were some things I needed to take care of first." At this, he turned around and looked at Theodore. "Theodore, for the sake of protecting Daren, I have registered you as his father in his school registration papers. That way, no one will know that Daren is connected to me. I think this will be the best way for him to lead a normal life."

Theodore opened his mouth in shock, face frozen in an unimaginable expression.

Devon turned to look at Daren now. "Daren, from now on when you are at school, you will no longer be Daren Solaris, but Daren Avery. Please remember this fact! It's very important that you don't give yourself away, alright?"

'_Order: Last name changed from Solaris to Avery at school.'_

"Yes, Devon." said Dark Sun.

"But. But. But. But. But... Wha-? You can't just do this! Don't you need my signature or something for things like this?" cried Theodore. This just wasn't fair. He didn't even have a girlfriend yet. Now who would want him if he's already registered with a teenage child? This just totally ruined his life plans. His love life. His marriage. His REAL kids. They're all in jeopardy now!

"Oh don't worry about the specifics. I got your signature." smirked Devon as he walked towards the door. Smiling tenderly now, he continued, "Come on Daren! You're ride to school is here!"

Theodore didn't even want to know the dirty tricks Devon had up his sleeve to get the signature. But this was a good chance now that Devon was temporarily distracted.

"Psst. Kyle!" whispered Theodore. "Help Daren? There's no way he'll be able to last the first day wearing those clothes. Do you happen to have the designer's finished products with you?"

A light of recognition and pity flashed through Kyle's eyes. He always knew that Emp had the fashion sense of a horse, and it really was a sad predicament for Daren to be in. Rummaging through the bag again, he found what he was looking for.

Theodore watched with amazement as Kyle lifted out one of the outfits that was featured in the designer's papers. It was perhaps the simplest outfit, a sleeveless black hoodie over a long sleeve top and a pair of dark blue jeans. But it was still miles better than what Dark Sun was forced to wear right now.

Both nodding in understanding, a mutual plan was formed. Kyle, reminding Devon that they were going to be late for the meeting, finally managed to get the Solaris Emperor inside a car. Saying a swift goodbye, Kyle told the driver to leave. Finally, Theodore was left alone with Dark Sun and his own personal driver.

Dark Sun, seeing his master leave, still wasn't very happy. He felt that he really wouldn't be able to fulfill his job if Devon was so far away from him. Besides, the sweater that he was wearing really didn't make him feel very good. It's too hot, and way too irritating.

Theodore threw the clothes over to Dark Sun. "Hurry and change if you know what's good for you. We'll leave after you change."

Thank God that Theodore was here. Dark Sun really didn't like what he was wearing right now. It got in his way too much. Shouting out thanks, he ran back inside the house and happily threw off the sweater. He considered shredding it with his claws so he'll never see it again, but decided not to since this was still something his master gave him. Running back out, he felt much lighter and relaxed.

Nodding with approval, Theodore told Dark Sun, "Alrighties now. Devon threatened me on pain of death that I accompany you to school. So get in the car, I still have experiments to do when I get back home."

Dark Sun hesitated. He didn't want to ride in a boring four wheeled car. Yes the car had it's own personal driver. And yes the car was shiny and cool-looking. But he didn't want to feel cramped inside one of those cars. Looking around, there were tons of other automobiles to choose from. But one caught his eye. Curiosity prompted Dark Sun to go and take a look.

Theodore was confused at Dark Sun's hesitation. All he really wanted to do was to get a sweet ride from this Ferrari and head back home to do more experiments. Besides, why was Dark Sun heading towards the motorcycle area?

"Theodore, I wanna ride this to school!" said Dark Sun, finally making his decision. This was a motorcycle, according to his microchip, and he had already been programmed on how to ride it. In fact, Dark Sun was capable of operating every known automobile, from trucks to airplanes. But the motorcycle seemed to be the most 'fun' of them all.

"A motorcycle? Dark Sun you want to ride on a motorcycle for your first day of school?" asked Theodore, disbelievingly.

"Can't I?" replied Dark Sun. Theodore winced as the teen unleashed his fearsome pair of puppy eyes. Sighing, the scientist pulled out his cellphone and dialed Kyle's number. It seemed that the two brothers did have some things in common. They both have their own ways to get what they want.

"Yes?" said Kyle, picking up the phone.

Theodore sighed, and told him the current predicament.

"That's fine. He's allowed to use any of the cars in the garage. The keys to the motorcycle are hanging on the shelf."

From the phone, Theodore heard a, "What motorcycle? What keys? Let me talk to Theodore." The scientist assumed that that was the Solaris Emperor, still getting ready for his meeting. Then Kyle's voice came again, "But Emp, the meeting starts in 3 minutes. At least fix your tie." At this, rustling sounds could be heard, and Devon picked up the phone.

"Daren wants to ride a motorcycle? I disapprove!"

Theodore agreed, "That's what I thought too."

"No, he can't ride a motorcycle by himself, but you can be in the front and drive for him. Daren can sit in the back."

"What?" shouted Theodore over the phone, "Then you might as well just let him drive by himself. I've never rode on a motorcycle my entire life!"

"Then he can't ride on it. What if Daren gets into an accident? Tell him to just use the Ferrari today. I'll think of an idea tomorrow."

At this, Dark Sun patted Theodore on the shoulder and said, "But I really, really want to ride on the motorcycle." The teen knew that the odds were leaning away from his side now. He must hurry and convince Theodore to let him ride the motorcycle!

Theodore hesitated before agreeing with Devon. He didn't even know if it was Dark Sun's fault or not. Sighing, the scientist replied, "How about this, Daren can ride in the front, and I'll ride on the back. That way, if anything happens, I can still help him."

Devon didn't really like that idea much either, but Kyle, always so reliable, cut in once again. "Emp, we have exactly 30 seconds before the meeting starts. Please prepare your speech."

Frustrated, Devon quickly gave Theodore an answer, "Fine. You can do that. But if anything happens, I'll turn YOU into an experiment."

Before Theodore got a chance to reply, the Solaris Emperor had already hung up.

"Oh the things I do for you." muttered Theodore under his breath while turning to face the expectant Dark Sun. The silver haired teen had a big smile on his face, ready to hear the good news.

"Devon said that you could ride the motorcycle."

Dark Sun immediately got on the motorcycle, eyes full of adventure.

"But only if you let me ride in the front."

Dark Sun's face immediately drooped. He wanted to ride this all by himself!

Theodore sighed. "Don't worry, I have no intention of sacrificing my life for things like this. Heck, I don't even know how to turn the damn machine on. Just make sure on your way to school that you drive safely alright? I trust you won't get into any accidents. Your microchip should already be programmed on how to ride this thing."

Dark Sun nodded, face filled with delight once again. Theodore walked over the shelf and picked up the keys and a pair of slim sunglasses. Tossing the items over to Dark Sun, he headed over to the personal driver still waiting in the Ferrari.

"It's fine, Daren can drive himself to school. Why don't you take the day off?"

The driver nodded and drove off. Theodore could now hear the 'Pbbbb' of the motorcycle behind him. Finally remembering something important, he ran back to Dark Sun to remind him of one final thing.

"If Devon ever asks if I was with you on the motorcycle, just say yes, alright?" shouted Theodore over the roaring of the engine. "If Devon finds out I wasn't with you, then you'll never be able to ride on the motorcycle again!"

That seemed to get Dark Sun's attention. Promising to follow Theodore's orders, he grabbed the clutch and started giving some gas to the motorcycle. In a matter of seconds, Dark Sun took off, leaving behind the satisfied green-eyed scientist in a cloud of dust.

* * *

><p>A boy walked down the hallway of a school, seemingly ignoring all the gasps and shudders of the people that he walked past. The usually extremely busy and noisy hallway was immediately choked into a silent and tense atmosphere. The normal students, who completely filled the hallway, somehow all parted away like the water for Moses, afraid of even touching the boy. The boy though, walked past all that while yawning and reliving last night's events. The fights at the battle tournament lasted way longer than usual. Because of that, he had to smash another alarm clock this morning. He would have skipped this whole day altogether, except for the fact that today was the day he could fight in the battle simulator. Grudgingly, he managed to somehow make it to school.<p>

Whispers of, "There's him! The monster of D Class!" and "Quickly! Everyone take cover!" could be easily heard had the boy been paying any attention. But the boy, rustling his spiky flame orange hair, could care less than what others were saying about him. After all, he didn't want their attention anyways. But it was true that his appearance was quite eye-catching. Possessing an extraordinary and rare natural flame colored hair, it made him stick out like a sore thumb. Not to mention the silver dragon tattoo that seemed to wind it's way up on the left side of his face, ending near the eyebrows.

Kicking open the door to his own classroom, he saw a sight that others would have payed to see yet was an everyday occurrence to him. This was the troublemaking class of Yelan Academy, in other words, 'let the cows graze' class. This was the class of typical delinquents and misfits of society. This was the class that everyone looks down upon because of their horrible manners and failing grades. Indeed, the D Class had been a terrible blemish in Yelan Academy's name, often costing it much of its reputation. Usually, for the people who even bothered to come to school in the morning, the class would be filled with chaos. Fights, often involving weapons, became a habit for the students of D Class. There were even weapon dealers for those who wanted that extra something to spice up their fights. Don't be surprised to see students selling tickets, inviting those who would like to come see a particularly bloody match. All in all, this was the way of the most famously hated class, D Class.

But rowdy as they were, there was still a boundary line for these delinquents. When the boy kicked open the door, everyone froze in their spots for 5 seconds. It would be quite comical actually, if someone had bothered to pass by, but this was the hallway that everyone avoided. Who wanted to be near these gangsters anyway? But if someone had been there, they could have seen a student stopping in a mid-swing of an axe, towards a boy who was mid-way of pulling the trigger of a gun. They could have perhaps seen a crowd who looked as if they were built out of stone, what with their unmoving expressions and stiff faces. Maybe if someone had passed by, they could have seen a short, middle-aged teacher daring to poke his face from behind his desk, looking all grateful for the stop of this chaos.

The boy, utterly oblivious to his surroundings, only thought of one thing: sleep. All he wanted to do was reach his chair, cover his face with the chinese novel he was planning to read, and sleep the class away. One could literally see the eyes of the students who were all 'frozen in time' move in sync with the boy. When the boy finally reached his desk, pulled out his chair and relaxed, a collective, barely audible sigh could be heard. True to his thoughts, the minute the boy leaned on his chair, he fell asleep. Now a tenser atmosphere could be felt around the frozen students. Who would be brave enough to go check if 'the monster' was really asleep? Finally, one brave soul left his frozen vigil to go up to the sleeping boy, and pulled on his sleeve. Since the boy showed no response, it was like the classroom erupted once again. The crowd was suddenly screaming it's head off, cheering for the two that were fighting. The student swung his axe, only to miss the boy who held the gun. A blast could be heard, and the axe dropped from the other student's hand. The battle was over, but the crowd wasn't done cheering yet. More things could be seen throwing around and the overall noise was enough to deafen a person who was standing outside the entire school. The middle aged teacher could only sigh and duck down behind his desk again. At least this way, he'll be safe from the troublemakers. The boy however, was still leaning on his chair, enjoying his well-earned sleep.

Dark Sun was quite enjoying his new toy. VROOOM! VROOOOOOM!VROOOOOOOOM! The motorcycle took him to speeds that exhilarated him to an emotion he couldn't quite name. Perhaps it was because its been so long since he felt it. But the 'fun' emotion that was coined by his microchip could only have been the answer. Then again, how could he know what it was like to have 'fun'? He didn't even remember anything before the implantation of the microchip. He didn't even know if he felt this way before. But whether he did nor not, Dark Sun wasn't ready to let the entertainment end there.

Feeling his hair being whipped behind his face, Dark Sun dodged in between cars, totally ignoring the streetlights, and frightened everyone he passed half to death. But the silver haired teen kept on giving more and more gas to the motorcycle, in the end reaching double the normal speed limit. This caused the motorcycle to glide through the air whenever it ran over a bump on the road. However, Dark Sun still felt that he had enough control other it to dodge anything standing in his way. Truthfully, he's been purposely going the wrong way just for fun. If he was really heading for school, the fun would end too early. Without being late, he tried to prolong his happiness for a few minutes longer.

Then, his cellphone rang.

Taking out the cellphone from his pocket, the caller ID showed that Devon was calling. Hesitating to pick it up, Dark Sun panicked. Devon wasn't supposed to know that he was riding on the motorcycle. Theodore made sure to warn him about that. What could he do? Doing a 180, Dark Sun drove back in the direction of the school, while clicking the answer button on his cell.

"Hello?"

"Daren! I got a short break from the meeting. Just wanted to check up on you.

"I'm fine."

"Are you at school now?"

"Um... Yes?"

Technically, Dark Sun wasn't lying, the microchip made sure of that. But he was driving at a ridiculous speed upon finally reaching the school's front gates.

"Why is the background noise so loud? Are you at your new classroom?"

"Well..."

The microchip had already mapped out the school for Dark Sun. All he has to do was park the motorcycle near the door to the classroom. But, as always, Dark Sun was going at a ridiculous speed even inside the school grounds, trying to find his classroom.

"Well?"

"Well, I'm almost there..."

"Almost there? The driver should have sent you to school 15 minutes early! Did something happen? Besides, why IS the background noise so loud? It almost sounds like you're driving a-"

Dark Sun had no time to listen to what Devon had to say afterwards. A pink haired girl, who was carrying two huge metal maces, seemed to pop up out of nowhere, and was directly in the way of himself and his new classroom. What's more, upon seeing Dark Sun, she just stood there, gawking, completely ignoring the fact that a roaring motorcycle was approaching her 200mph. Just realizing his speed, Dark Sun immediately knew that there was no way he could stop the motorcycle fast enough without hitting the girl. Swerving with all his might, Dark Sun managed to avoid hitting the pink haired girl, but couldn't manage to save his motorcycle. Jumping off at the last second, he scooped up the girl, still looking at him with big huge puppy eyes, and jumped out of the way.

Everyone at D Class was still as loud and rambunctious as usual. They couldn't even hear the roaring of a motorcycle that was coming their way. The flame haired boy, who was supposed to sleeping in content, suddenly opened his eyes. Jumping away from his desk, he growled in both anticipation and anger. Suddenly, a jet black motorcycle burst through the wall, and smashed several desks that were near it. Seeing his own desk being crushed, the boy became that much more irritated. Baring his teeth, the dragon on his face seemed to writhe along in anger with him. With one hand, he stopped the motorcycle before it could cause any further destruction. Eventually, the motorcycle's wheels stopped turning, and the class only just realized what happened. A humungous hole was what's left of their wall, and what's left inside the classroom wasn't pretty either. 'The Monster' of Class D had been awakened, with a motorcycle in his hands. All the students suddenly said a silent prayer to God for the person who was riding that motorcycle to not suffer too much before he dies. Although they were delinquents, they still felt sorry for whoever it was. Nobody who angered 'the monster' has ever came back a pretty sight. Rather, they didn't come back at all.

Lifting up the easily 500 pounds motorcycle with one hand, the flame haired boy threw it towards the direction it came from, and walked out to see who had the guts to disturb his sleep.

Dark Sun wasn't expecting this reaction, but still managed to catch the motorcycle without dropping the girl. Setting his beloved motorcycle upright, he also helped the girl to her feet. Looking back at whoever that threw the motorcycle, Dark Sun decided that he definitely won't forgive that person, no matter what. That person seriously dented the motorcycle with his rough treatment. Now how was he going to explain this to Theodore?

"You little punk, did you realize what you just did?" said the boy who was literally fuming with anger as he walked out of the classroom. He really liked that desk. That desk was always so comfortable to sleep in. Now it's crushed, by this white-haired brat and his motorcycle. The flame haired boy started thinking of all the ways to ruin that pretty boy's face.

Dark Sun wasn't so easily intimidated either and gladly accepted the boy's challenge.

One could just taste the palpable hatred that filled the air as the two giants confronted each other.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

As the sight of the destruction sank in to the students of Class D, they also couldn't hold their anger in. Everyone wanted to see who was it that dared to disturb their classroom.

"You've got some guts, you white haired freak, making an entrance like that!"

"Yeah, wait until we're finished with you!"

"Hmph! Who dares to offend the D Class?"

But one look from the the flame haired boy shut them all up. Raising his right fist, the boy gladly made the first move. He was never one to drag out an one-sided battle. Might as well give his opponent their beating and get back to sleep. Wait, he didn't have anywhere to sleep anymore. Right, that little brat just killed his desk. Oh the fun he'll have beating up that pretty boy's face.

Although his dark sunglasses blocked off his facial expression, Dark Sun was quite mad as well. How dare that orange haired boy throw his motorcycle like that? Now it's all dented and not shiny anymore. Most likely unrepairable too. However, Dark Sun also knew not to take this boy lightly. It was his first time seeing someone other than himself lift up something that should be beyond human capabilities. Could this boy be 'remodeled' like himself?

But before Dark Sun even thought about dodging, the girl who was supposed to be at his side suddenly disappeared. In a flash of pink, the girl had already intercepted the flame haired boy's punch.

"Move Princess, if you know what's good for you." growled the boy, muscles tensing.

"Ezart, stop. You should know better than to attract the principal's attention like this." replied the pink haired girl, warningly. Her eyebrows furrowed together, showing her seriousness.

"I'll be damned if I have to listen to a girl like you. Now move!" Throwing away his arm, Ezart knocked the girl off balance. But before he could take another step, a round mace appeared just inches from his face.

"Listen Ezart, the principal's been ignoring your antics for a while now, but with this many people watching, he can't just pretend nothing's happening. Now if you know what's good for YOU, I suggest you wait and be patient. Or the principal might really take away your freedom this time."

The girl flicked away some her pink hair, and smiled at Ezart coldly when he hesitated.

"There now, you'll have your little battle. That I can assure you. Make sure to be at the simulator this afternoon by the way. Something interesting is going on."

Ezart tensed his fists. As much as he wanted to use the self-confident pretty boy as an anger management punching bag, attracting the principal's attention was too risky. Swallowing his anger, he headed back to the classroom, intending to take someone's desk and sleep the morning classes away. As Ezart left, the girl's lips curled up in satisfaction. Twirling her hair, she suddenly remembered about the boy behind her.

Dark Sun also watched as Ezart left, but his attention immediately returned to the pink haired girl that was running towards him, hands outstretched. She had the most ridiculous smile on her face. His microchip shouted out warnings about this person, who definitely wasn't a simple character either. Without even realizing, Dark Sun stood at ready, just in case the girl wasn't as harmless as he thought.

Suddenly, a pair of hands squeezed and pinched his cheeks.

"Oh. My. God. You cute little boy you! Look how soft your cheeks are, and stretchy too! Heeheehee. So cute! So cute!"

The pink haired girl was really relentless in her squeezing, yet she still seemed to have that silly, bubbly smile of hers. Laughing, she took off Dark Sun's sunglasses, intending to look at the teenage boy's eyes. Her jaw immediately dropped in surprise.

Dark Sun was surprised too. Without the dark tint of his sunglasses, he looked at the girl with newfound curiosity, even tilting his head slightly to one side. Her face was a bit too close to his own, but he didn't back away.

"Woww!" The pink haired girl laughed as she jumped for Dark Sun, and the latter definitely didn't expect her to have as much power. He wasn't able to keep his balance, so with that tackle, both teens fell to the ground. But Dark Sun managed to use himself as a cushion to protect the girl. In slow motion, the girl got up, revealing an apologetic smile. Their faces were just barely above each other and close enough for Dark Sun to feel the strands of the girl's pink hair on his cheek. He chose this chance to get a closer look at the girl, but couldn't help falling into the girl's pink eyes.

A huge grin appeared on the girl's face.

"You're much more dashing than I thought before."

Again, Dark Sun was still extremely confused, but couldn't avert his gaze from the girl's. He found that smile of her's quite warm and comforting. It made him feel so dizzy it was unnerving.

"What's your name?" asked the girl, an eyebrow raised playfully.

Dark Sun answered, "Daren Avery."

The girl tilted her head to one side. "Daren, hm? Never seen your face before. You must be a new student!" To this, Dark Sun only nodded in reply.

As the girl sat up, she offered a hand to pull Dark Sun up too. "My name is Eloise," said the girl, "But you may call me big sister! Welcome to Yelan Academy, Daren."

Dark Sun was originally going to refuse the girl's help, but when Eloise said the two words, 'big sister', a bell actually rang in his mind. He raised his arm, then stopped midway in the air, still hesitant. Why did these two words impact him so?

Eloise only quickly grabbed Dark Sun's hand and pulled him up. The latter's eyes opened wide in surprise. How could a girl like her pull the weight of himself who was three times the average human? His eyebrows slightly furrowed together in thought. Seemed like today was full of surprises.

"You're actually quite heavy aren't you?" giggled Eloise, hands on her hips, "But I forgot. Thanks for saving me back there Daren, that was really sweet of you." Then, her eyes suddenly looked up in recognition. She asked, "Right! What class are you supposed to be in, Daren?"

"D Class."

Eloise's eyebrows slanted upwards in pity. She put both hands on Dark Sun's shoulders and promised, "It's okay Daren. If anybody dares to tease or make fun of you, just come and tell big sister me, alright? I'll help you beat them all up!" She smiled and added, "And don't worry about the mess this morning. I'll explain to the principal for you."

Dark Sun in turn smiled back. It seemed like the right thing to do, since Eloise was being so nice to him. But why did Eloise show pity when she heard he was from D Class? "Thank you," he replied. The slight smile was quite enough to dazzle Eloise speechless.

But the last bell for the school rang. That made Dark Sun remember what Devon told him this morning, to go to school on time. But he couldn't leave without saying goodbye first.

"Oops, the bell just rung. You should probably go." said Eloise, finally getting her voice back. Not only was Daren's normal face dashing, but his smile shone like the sun.

Dark Sun smiled and nodded, then ran towards his classroom. There was no need to go inside the school to reach his class. The big gaping hole in the wall was good for that at least. But from his back, he heard Eloise's voice again.

"Wait for me during lunch break alright? I'll come and show you around the school!"

Dark Sun only raised two fingers and did a salute without turning back to look at Eloise. He would wait for her at lunch.

* * *

><p>Stepping through the destruction that he himself caused, Dark Sun noticed his soon-to-be classmates. Some of them were sitting around playing cards, some of them were fist fighting, and others were just randomly throwing things around the classroom. He even noticed one boy slyly sliding a gun to a girl, and the girl repaying the boy with a wad of cash. All in all, everyone seemed to be focused on doing their own thing, but once they saw Dark Sun, everyone stopped to look at him. Many of the teenage boys were all whispering to each other, trying their best to intimidate this new student. The girls were whispering as well, but many had raised eyebrows and devious eyes. On the far back corner sat Ezart, who was sleeping on his 'new' desk.<p>

Class D's teacher, Mr. Song, had already begun his lesson for today. It had been a rough morning, even rougher than usual. All he wanted to do was hide behind his desk and review his notes, but then a motorcycle actually crashed through his classroom wall. Now he had been Class D's teacher for a long time, perhaps the longest in the whole history of Class D teachers. No other teacher would put up with Class D's actions and not willingly back down from the job. But he got used to their rambunctious ways. He knew what they were capable of, and what they feared. But that motorcycle breaking down his entire wall was still a first. No matter though. Class had started, so he decided to swallow his doubts like he always did with Class D, and move on. Right now, he was writing down important dates about the creation and utilization of important weapons. He knew that no one was paying attention to him, and he didn't really care if they did. But he was paid to write these notes down, since it was his job, so might as well do it.

'...Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo utilized his famous strategy, making to good use of rifles and cannons. However he lost the war, due to...'

Weird. The class had become unnaturally quiet.

Mr. Song dared to turn around to look at his class. Following their line of sight, he found a silver haired boy just calmly walking through this morning's disaster. He had never seen this boy before, and normal people with any brains wouldn't come close to this class. Unless... Wait, he did vaguely remember getting a notice from the principal to welcome a new student. But he didn't pay much attention to it. Most new students, once they find themselves enrolled in the infamous Class D, decide to drop out without even coming for their first day. That's why, ever since he began teaching here, there had been no new additions to the class. So who would have guessed that this would be his first time welcoming a new student?

Dark Sun turned his head to look at the senior-aged man. From his position of writing notes, he must have been the teacher of this class. Noticing a name plate on the desk, he said, "Mr. Song, I'm the new student."

Mr. Song's expression stiffened. How did the new student know his name?

"Yes, yes. Of course. I had almost forgot since you came a bit late today." Mr. Song gave a stiff smile and gestured for Dark Sun to come closer. Turning around, he introduced the new student to Class D. "This is Daren, um, Avery? He will be joining us for the rest of the school year. Everyone please treat him nicely."

Although Mr. Song knew that it was impossible for the ruffians in the class to give this student any good memories, he still said it to comfort the silver-haired teen. He must feel very out of place among these hooligans. Pity filled the teacher's eyes. He hoped the new student would at least last through today.

Dark Sun's microchip scanned the classroom. Everyone in here seemed to specialize in fighting, whether it was hands-on or with weapons. None of them had enough power to trouble himself though, but the Ezart boy on the far corner caught his attention. His capabilities were on a whole different level from the rest of the classmates.

Everyone, other than Ezart who was soundly asleep, also observed the new student. They knew that this was the person who destroyed their wall. Most importantly, this kid had dared to challenge Class D. A few of the boys cracked their knuckles, and some girls gossiped about why Ezart didn't finish him off in the first place.

Again, Mr. Song was troubled. Because of this morning's 'situation', Class D was now short on desks. Most students didn't really need their desk, so the ones that had their desks broken just went and shared with a friend. Either way, there was no way anyone would share a desk with the new student. "I'm so sorry," apologized Mr. Song, "But I don't think that you'll have a desk for today. Why don't you come and-"

Dark Sun raised a hand, as if telling the teacher there was no need. Expressionless, he headed for the empty desk nearest to the boy Ezart. By near, Dark Sun had to walk to the other side of the classroom, since no one dared to sit within 10 meters of Ezart. But as he walked up to the desk, a seemingly well-built student jumped up from behind, yelling, "Where do you think you're heading, punk? Didn't the old man already say there were no free desks? Don't you even think of taking my desk!"

But Dark Sun showed no response, only standing there, contemplating on whether or not the boy was actually daring to challenge him. The owner of that desk got angrier and angrier, as he picked up a gigantic axe that was by his side and jumped for the silver haired teen. In an instant, everyone expected the axe to decapitate the new student, but Dark Sun merely ducked his head and rebounded with a swift roundhouse kick to the other boy's face. This sent both the axe and the boy flying to the wall. Mr. Song grimaced, there goes another wall that needs to be repaired.

Dark Sun's eyebrows tensed, as he walked towards his opponent, who's body caused a dent in the wall. Covering the boy's head with his hand, Dark Sun held the boy up and gave him a cold, piercing stare. Throwing him down to the ground, Dark Sun stepped on the boy's chest and said, "That's my desk now."

The boy on the ground gasped for air, but Dark Sun just pressed harder with his foot. The boy's face contorted in agony and tried to struggle against his attacker but found himself literally pinned to the ground. Slowly, the boy let out a sigh and his head dropped. Everyone held one collective gasp, but no one dared to move. Some classmates' jaw dropped and others held concerned looks. Finding his opponent immobile, Dark Sun walked back to his 'new' desk, and picked it up with one hand. Everyone, including Mr. Song watched with alarm as the new student moved the desk next to Ezart, and grabbed a chair. When Dark Sun sat down, Mr. Song could only stutter out, "D-Daren, are you sure you want to sit there?"

"Why not?"

"Oh nothing." Mr. Song managed to force out a laugh. "Well now, continuing with the lesson!" He turned back to the board and continued writing about Napoleon. In his mind, Mr. Song couldn't care less about the boy who was lying on the ground. These kids may not look it, but they've all survived countless fights. These small scuffles were everyday matters to him. Laughing to himself, he thought about how he was being worried for the new student at first. Seems like anyone that dared to enroll into D Class were definitely not simple characters.

Dark Sun on the other hand, calmly took out a pencil, eraser, and a notebook from his leather side bag. He began to swiftly take down all of the teacher's notes on the board. He didn't even need to look at the board to take the notes. His microchip determined the tapping of chalk into words. Dark Sun closed his eyes and fell asleep on his desk, while his right hand was still taking notes. The entire Class D watched the new student for the longest time. Some in amazement, some impressed, and some quite angry, but no one dared to go and interrupt his sleep.

Class D froze in their place, exactly like how they did when Ezart entered the room this morning. After what seemed like the longest silence, a brave soul dared to go up and wave her hand near Dark Sun's eyes. Finding no response, the class erupted in uproar again. A few students went to check the situation of the boy lying on the ground. Thankfully, he was only unconscious, probably from a lack of air. When the defeated was dragged to the infirmary, a group of girls began whispering to each other, and sneaking looks at the new student. Nearby, a group of boys began openly debating the abilities of this new student, and why he had wanted to sit next to Ezart. More importantly, they were deciding who should go challenge this 'Daren' again.

Meanwhile, Dark Sun was pondering about this morning. The flame haired boy called Ezart, and his newly proclaimed big sister, Eloise. Both seemed interesting, and Dark Sun was looking forward to confront them again. But there were two words, 'big sister' that spun around in his head and wouldn't go away. It had sounded so familiar...

* * *

><p>Brrinng... Brrrring... Brrrrrring...<p>

Dark Sun slowly opened his eyes. What was that annoying sound? And why was everywhere so loud as well? It definitely wasn't lunch yet.

Brrrrrrring... BRRRRRRing... BRRRIINNGGG!

He slammed his left hand on the desk. Looking around, he noticed all of his classmates frozen again, the background noise disappeared, and the clear ringing of his cellphone could be heard.

Dark Sun's eyes suddenly grew big. Damn, he had forgotten all about hanging up on Devon this morning! Rushing to find his phone, he quickly pressed the answer button. With lightning speed, he ran outside the classroom. Any conversation with his master must not be overheard.

"DAREN. WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU DOING?" shouted the Solaris Emperor, who obviously wasn't very pleased.

Dark Sun had to hold the phone far away in order to not be deafened. With a soothing voice, he tried to comfort Devon.

"Please don't be worried. I'm absolutely fine."

"NO YOU WEREN'T. I SWORE I HEARD SOMETHING CRASH THE MOMENT YOU HUNG UP. I tried to get Kyle to call you back, but no one answered."

With a forced smile, Dark Sun replied, "The teacher asked me to turn off my phone for the class. That was all. Nothing happened, I assure you." Trying to change the conversation, he added, "How did your meeting go?" He had convinced his microchip that it wasn't a lie, since it was against the school rules to have your cellphone on during class.

A frustrated sigh could be heard on the other end. "It went fine, nothing too big happened. But you're sure everything on your side is okay?"

Dark Sun tried to use his warmest voice possible. "Yes, of course everything is fine."

That seemed to finally calm down Devon, who was in the car with Kyle driving to their appointed lunch meeting at a five star restaurant. A thought popped up in his mind. "Daren, I'm on my way to a restaurant right now. Why don't I get Kyle to send you some dishes during your lunch break?"

"No, that'll be fine. I'll eat from the cafeteria today," Dark Sun politely replied, "But thank you."

"Are you sure? This just happened to be my favorite restaurant too... I'm sure your school cafeteria can't beat a five star restaurant!"

Dark Sun forced another smile again. "It's fine. Really. I have plans at lunch today with a... a... an acquaintance."

Devon brightened up. "Really? You made friends on your first day of school? That's great! Why don't you bring your friends home sometime? I'd love to meet them!" Devon had really wanted to meet them. Especially to test whether or not they were actually good friends to Daren. If not, then Devon will have fun thinking of punishments.

Hesitant, Dark Sun answered, "I'll see." He was troubled about what to call Eloise. He couldn't possibly refer to her as a friend yet, right? He didn't think they were that close. And as for bringing her home, well, that'll come in time.

"No I insist. Bring your friend home today. We can all eat dinner together."

Dark Sun was confused. Was this an order? He couldn't refuse if this was an order. "I'll try," he said, trying to sound polite.

"Alright then. You should probably hurry and go meet your friend. I think it's almost lunch break for you. Am I right?"

Dark Sun's microchip announced the time.

'_12:55 PM'_

Devon was right, it was almost lunch break. "Yes, I'll be going now," he said.

"Oh, and remember to call me if anything happens ok?"

"Yes, I'll do that."

"Enjoy lunch!'

"You too."

Dark Sun hung up. Running back to the classroom, he wondered if Eloise was already waiting for him. When he re-entered the classroom, he grabbed his notes and stuffed it all in his bag. Rushing for the door, a hand gently grabbed his arm.

Turning around, Dark Sun had expected someone to pick a fight with him again. But instead found a group of girls that were following him. The girl who grabbed his arm was dressed in a brown leather jacket over a pure black jumpsuit. That girl also had strikingly long blonde hair. From one glance, this girl was obviously the 'leader' of the group. Dark Sun couldn't help noticing the small knives that were strapped to her waist.

"Wait up, boy." said the girl, "It's your first day, so don't leave in a hurry! Why don't you come eat with us big sisters?"

The girls behind the blonde giggled and laughed.

Dark Sun was confused as well, and as a habit, tilted his head to one side. He raised an eyebrow, unsure of what this girl meant. Eloise had already wanted to be his big sister first, so now why were there more girls?

The blond girl smiled, and led Dark Sun back into the classroom. Everyone gave them a glance when she made the new student sit down on a desk, and then sat down next to him. Many boys watched with disbelief turning to rage as they saw how close Dark Sun and the blonde girl was. The girl entourage surrounded Dark Sun and their apparent leader, so that no one outside could see what was going on.

"So, I see you beat up my boyfriend today." said the blonde. "You beat him up without even batting an eyelash."

Dark Sun 'ah'-ed. So this was why the girl wanted to talk with him. "He was weak. I can't be sorry for beating him up."

The girl laughed. "No no. You don't need to be sorry at all. It's just that, being a man, you'll need to take responsibility, you know."

Dark Sun did his signature move, cocking his head to one side.

"Since you beat up my current boyfriend, I'll need a replacement." The blonde girl crossed her legs and touched Dark Sun's hair. It was silky smooth and a glowing silver. "You know, I like boys like you the best."

The entourage 'wall' giggled again. Their leader was the best at entrapping men, then working them to the bone for her needs.

"But I don't like girls like you."

The blonde's eyes grew big. And even the entourage gasped. Everyone looked at Dark Sun, but the latter showed a purely cool and calm demeanor.

"I made sure not to kill him, your boyfriend, I mean. He'll heal, after maybe 3-4 months in the hospital. Just wait until then, and you'll get your boyfriend back." Dark Sun said in a matter-of-factly way.

The blond girl tried one last move. She embraced Dark Sun, and running her finger across his cheek, said, "I don't want him anymore. I want you. Now don't tell me you don't like me, because-"

One kick sent the blonde girl flying from Dark Sun's body. Everyone's head turned to look at the attacker. Eloise slanted one mace over her shoulder, and pointed the other towards the blond girl who was lying on the ground, clutching her stomach.

Struggling to get up, the blonde girl coughed out, "What do you think you're doing here, bitch?" she growled, "This isn't the place for princesses."

"Don't take what's not yours. That's called stealing." replied Eloise coldly.

"Oh ho!" shouted the blonde girl. By now, she had gotten every student's attention. Many boys stood in front of her, holding their respective weapons, as defense against Eloise. "So this one's already been claimed? No matter, the winner gets to keep this lost little puppy." The blonde signaled to the boys in front of her to attack. And attack they did.

Dark Sun pushed Eloise away, causing her to tumble down onto the ground. A frustrated Eloise shouted from behind, "What did you do that for?" and slowly got up. She watched as Dark Sun immediately blocked a boy's punch and evaded another's bullet, then tripped an attacker who was trying to cut him from behind. As smooth as water, Dark Sun followed with more offensive moves. He started off by giving a strong kick to the stomach to the boy who punched him, then flipped over the one who attacked him from behind. A dull thud could be heard as the boy's back landed on the ground. The one who had the gun kept firing rapid shots, but none of them managed to hit Dark Sun. This caused the boy firing to be more and more disturbed, and just started firing randomly in the end. Eventually the entire classroom had to duck and and cover.

As Dark Sun reached the boy, the latter's eyes were wide open in fear. He couldn't even see Dark Sun grab his arm, forcing him to let go of the gun. When he tried to retaliate with a kick, Dark Sun used his other arm to block the attack. With a twist, a loud snap rang throughout the classroom. The boy who was shooting bullets just a while ago was on the ground, shouting obscenities and hugging his arm that was contorted in an unnatural position.

Dark Sun stepped away and looked at his other two attackers that met a slightly lighter punishment. They dropped their weapons, surrendering.

Eloise suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his arm, dragging Dark Sun outside the classroom. It was the first time Dark Sun had been literally dragged by someone, so didn't retaliate. The classroom door slammed shut behind them.

An explosion erupted from inside the classroom. Shouts of, "Someone drag him to the infirmary!" and "That was so damn cool!" collaborated into a deafening mess. Above that, a girl's high-pitched scream could be heard. Then suddenly Class D's door re-opened, showing a fuming, red-faced blonde that glared daggers at Eloise.

"I won't give up on him!" she shouted, teeth clenched, "I won't give him up to a princess like you!"

Eloise paused, but didn't turn around to face the girl. She merely continued dragging Dark Sun through the hallway.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: <strong>I seriously rewrote this chapter like 5 times, which may or may not have been a lot to you guys, but was a lot for me. It got to the point where I had to plan out like the next 7 or so chapters in order to successfully write this one. And to the people who have read Eclipse Hunter and don't recognize some of the characters in here, that is because they are OCs. I was very against writing OCs at first, but I had to consider it in the end. I wanted to make this story different from the original, so writing a few new minor characters seemed fine to me. However, I totally accept if you guys don't like these OCs. I've never favored OCs unless they were written extremely well. But trust me, these OCs will stay minor characters, or at least, not very important. Just to the point where they can help me make some jokes or move the plot along.

And forgive me if there's grammar mistakes in here. I miss my beta reader. She was brilliant at editing :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Note:** Thanks so much for the reviews! They were what made me update this fast. :) I hope you enjoy reading this chap, since there's going to quite a lot of things going on here. Dark Sun speaks French! Yeah for French!

Oh and in case you guys want a mental image of what Dark Sun looks like in the battle simulator, just search up 玄日 on Google Images. It's the first picture you see. I used that as inspiration. It looks so awesomely cool. :D

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

"That was very mean, what you did back there." said Eloise.

"Was it? But they challenged me first, so it was only natural for me to defend my-"

"No. They didn't target you. They were aiming for me. Why did you push me away like that?"

Dark Sun paused. "Because..." Funny. Why did he push Eloise away? He had no reason to. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Idiot, I'm not so weak as to get hurt just because you pushed me away." grumbled Eloise.

"Then why are you still angry?"

"I'm not angry!" responded Eloise, who's voice was getting louder by the second. "It's just that, I could have stood my ground without you helping me."

Dark Sun's eyes were full of worry. He didn't mean to get Eloise angry. And even if she said she wasn't, Dark Sun knew she wasn't very happy. With a pleading look, he said, "Please don't be angry."

"I told you I'm not angry!" shouted Eloise, looking straight at Dark Sun's eyes. She knew she was being unfair. But what he did back there really hurt her pride. Being from a combat academy, pride was important to her, as well as every other student from Yelan. She could fight her own battles. She didn't need help.

But looking at Dark Sun's pleading eyes, she couldn't blame him for long. He was a new student after all, and it was normal for him to not understand the hidden 'rules' of the academy. Eloise took a deep breath, and sighed. Somewhere in her heart though, she found this Daren quite sweet. But the fact that he had so many other admirers on his first day irked her very much.

"You're still mad aren't you?" asked Dark Sun quietly.

"No, I was never mad in the first place," replied Eloise. She decided to let this matter go. After all, she didn't want to embarrass the new student on his first day. Taking Dark Sun's hand, she put a smile back on her face and said, "Let's go, I'll show you around the school. Alright?"

Dark Sun hesitated and refused to move. "Are you sure you're not angry?"

Eloise pouted and squeezed Dark Sun's cheeks. "Sheesh Daren, all you've been saying is 'angry, angry, angry'. I told you I'm not mad anymore. But if we get into any more fights in the future, let me fight my own battles, okay?

Dark Sun nodded, since he couldn't talk from Eloise's attack.

Finally Eloise let go and smiled, full of satisfaction. "Let's go then. We have a lot to get through."

Dark Sun forced out a smile. Eloise wasn't mad 'anymore'? Which means she was angry in the first place. So why did she contradict herself so many times? Sighing, he allowed himself to be led by Eloise towards the cafeteria. Seems like women were quite hard to understand.

* * *

><p>Reaching the cafeteria, Dark Sun was temporarily shocked at the huge amount of people in the room. He had never been anywhere near a scene like this. His feet refused to move, but Eloise continued dragging him through the crowd. Funnily enough, they never even had to line up. Eloise merely pushed open a door that led directly to the kitchen. Dark Sun's nose picked up many interesting spices and flavors as he walked by. A fat pudgy man wearing a high-top white hat noticed Eloise walking past, and eyed the silver haired teen behind her. Raising his eyebrow playfully, he said, "Well, well, well. If it isn't the little princess," gesturing to Dark Sun, he asked, "And to what may I owe this honor?"<p>

Eloise smiled, white teeth flashing. "This is Daren! A new friend of mine!" Winking, she asked the chef, "Isn't he just cutest?"

Dark Sun only gently smiled and raised his hand as a form of greeting. "Pleased to meet you."

The chef laughed heartily. Seemed like the princess was back to her boy-hunting ways. But this new teen at least seemed polite enough, although a bit on the skinny side. He knew just what was needed though, a good meal from your's truly. "Pleased to meet you too," said the chef, shaking Dark Sun's hand, "You may call me Monsieur Rondo. Now what do you say to some good old beef stew?"

Dark Sun grinned. "Ce serait mon plaisir*." He'll look forward to tasting this. For all he knew, whatever came out of this kitchen had to be good, what with the overflowing delectable smell.

The chef was stunned for a bit. Eloise too, looked at Dark Sun weirdly. The young teen just spoke French! Now Monsieur Rondo was born in Paris, and spoke with the official French accent. From the teen's accent, the chef concluded he had to be a French native speaker.

"Ton français est très bon**." inquired Monsieur Rondo.

Dark Sun's microchip immediately switched operational language from English to French. In fact, Dark Sun was programmed with every known language of the world, including Latin."Merci beaucoup***," he fluently replied, even adding a little bow at the end.

Monsieur Rondo liked this kid. He usually wasn't into favoritism, but Daren not only knew how to speak his home language, but also had manners, which were rare in this time and age. Chuckling, he gestured for Eloise and Dark Sun to come to his personal side of the kitchen. As the head chef, his job was to prepare the meals of only those in the Special Class, but he'd make an exception for Daren.

"Voila! C'est le menu du jour!****" said the head chef, as he revealed to his two favorite teens his morning's hard work.

Eloise's eyes were filled with wonder. Monsieur Rondo sure doesn't disappoint! Ignoring the two frenchmen chatting, she ran to get her plate. Who cares about French? She was absolutely famished.

Seeing Eloise eagerly picking among the delicacies, Dark Sun's own stomach growled. The head chef bellowed his low, hearty laugh and said, "Faites votre choix!"*****

Dark Sun smiled and nodded in response. Joining Eloise in her quest of the perfect lunch, he grabbed a plate and headed straight for the meat section.

* * *

><p>Eloise stared at Dark Sun's ever-growing mountain of food. Not to mention this was already his 5th round of Monsieur Rondo's buffet. Because Dark Sun emptied out the fries and burger section, the head chef had to fry a whole new batch more just for the young teen. Of course, Eloise wasn't a girl that could live on salad and fruits all day. She ate more than most guys actually, but still somehow kept her thin, model-like physique. This had gained her more than a few jealous glares from many girls.<p>

But never had she seen anyone eat as much as Dark Sun. The young teen had to eat the fair share of at least 10 people! Not only did Dark Sun eat a lot, but he ate his food fast too! In lightening speed, he had finished his first round when Eloise just barely started on hers. By the time Eloise had finished her first round and went back to get her second, Dark Sun was finishing up his fourth. But it wasn't like Dark Sun was stuffing his face either. In fact, the silver haired teen made sure to at least chew his food 10 times before swallowing. This had been an order from his master. He must chew his food thoroughly to avoid indigestion.

Finally, upon finishing his fifth round, Dark Sun slowed down and contently sat in his chair, watching Eloise eat. Noticing her partner was done, she slurped up some noodles and said, "If you have any questions, you can always ask me, Daren. Big sister would be happy answer them."

Dark Sun let out a chuckle. Eloise said 'big sister' again. It made him feel extremely close to the pink haired girl. Leaning closer, he asked, "Now that you mention it, I do have a question." Eloise stopped midway of slurping noodles, and looked up at Dark Sun's face that was inching closer. "There was a flame haired boy this morning that dented my motorcycle. If I recall correctly, you called him Ezart. Who is he really?"

Eloise looked at Dark Sun, the latter's face was completely serious. Laughing, she wiped her mouth and rubbed Dark Sun's head. Dark Sun looked at Eloise weirdly when she did that, but didn't pulled away.

"Alright, big sister'll answer your question!"

Dark Sun sat there, intently listening. He was extremely curious about this Ezart boy.

"Ezart is commonly referred to by the students of this school as, 'The Monster of Class D," began Eloise, who took a dramatic pause, and felt as if she was telling a story. "He was given this nickname because those that have angered him, never came back alive. He is respected and feared throughout the school. In fact, I think even students from other nearby schools have heard of his name. Are you sure you didn't hear anything about Ezart in your previous schools, Daren?"

Dark Sun merely shook his head. Being in a laboratory his entire childhood, he'd never had the chance to be in 'other schools'.

"Weird," continued Eloise, "I actually thought he was pretty famous around here. But anyways, continuing on! He is so feared, even the notorious delinquents of Class D are scared of him. In fact, no one dares to even sit within 10 meters of Ezart! I heard that every time Ezart enters Class D's room, all the rowdy gangsters freeze like stone until Ezart gets to his desk and falls asleep. That's what Ezart loves to do, by the way, sleep. And anyone who dares to disrupt his sleep would have to face his two fists. But Ezart's a pretty heavy sleeper, since Class D is always so noisy, so waking him up would actually be more troublesome."

Eloise paused and took a breath. Looking at Dark Sun, the cute teenage boy had a far away look in his eyes. Eloise waved a hand over Dark Sun's face and cheerfully asked, "Hello? Are you still with me?"

Dark Sun seemed to snap out of his senses. Shaking his head, he looked back at Eloise again, the latter wearing a sunshiny smile. "Do you want me to continue?" asked Eloise.

"That would be great." replied the silver haired teen. "Tell me, does Ezart fight well?"

Eloise laughed. "No, Ezart doesn't fight well, he fights great! For hands-on combat, he's extremely well trained. You can tell he loves battling, since he usually only comes to school on the days we practice in the battle simulator. Like today for example, we're all going into the battle simulator after lunch."

Dark Sun perked up when hearing this. The renowned battle simulator that made Yelan Academy famous! He gets to try it on his first day!

But Eloise continued, "When we go into the simulator, it's practically a battle royale. But everyone likes to form teams with friends or with skilled fighters. Ezart would a be highly sought after team-mate if it wasn't for his sour attitude. He's got more punk than the punks in D Class. He looks down on everyone. So no one could ever get Ezart on their side, but everyone always hoped for a chance!"

Puzzled, Dark Sun asked, "So Ezart is considered to be the most powerful student of the Academy?"

"Oh no! That's definitely not true!" answered Eloise, arms crossing each other to form an 'X'. "Our school has 4 different 'stages'. They are determined through your entrance exam and results in the battle simulator. It's possible that if you prove yourself to be a good fighter, you can raise your stage. The stages are 'A Class,' 'B Class', 'C Class', and 'D Class respectively. Most students are in C Class or B Class, so there are many classes for students of those stages. These students also work their hardest to be able to someday reach A Class, a highly prestigious stage. If you are a student of A Class, you get many cool 'rights' at this school, such as being able to skip final exams and getting an automatic seat in any battle university they like. However, there aren't many students who could get into this special A Class. They have less than 30 students right now, but each and every one of them are skilled combatants. They are also the ones that everyone wants on their team. Because as long as your team wins, you also get the points. So its basically like a bribing system for the students of A Class. As long as you manage to 'hire' one of them, then you'd be guaranteed good results."

Dark Sun's eyebrows knitted together. That sounded horribly indecent. Fighting should be done alone. There is no need to rely on others. He's beginning to hate the sound of these A Class students who 'rent' their skills to the weaker ones.

"Of course, it is also these A Class students who actually stand a chance against Ezart. However, Ezart has defeated all the A Class students that dared to challenge him, so the other A Class students start avoiding him so they don't ruin their reputation. People often argue if their favorite A Class member could match Ezart, but recently no one's dared to go fight him." concluded Eloise. She also noticed Daren's expression, so she stopped explaining. A little tentative, she asked, "Are you okay, Daren?"

Face softening, Dark Sun nodded. "It seems like these A Class students are nothing but hired fighters. They don't interest me. Isn't there anyone else stronger than them?"

Eloise was taken aback. Daren was only a D Class student. Anyone enrolled into D Class basically get stuck there for life since they never bother to do well in the simulations. Now all of a sudden, Daren's asking about the strongest of the Academy. Did he hope to someday face them in battle?

Patting Dark Sun's head, Eloise said, "There actually is a class that hides between the shadows, and everyone knows they are extremely powerful. It's rumored that the principal gives them many dangerous missions to complete, but no mission given to this class has ever been failed." Eyeing Daren, Eloise noticed his eyes had lighted up.

"Of course, the students of this class never operate inside the school, so the normal student body don't know who they are. They just know about their existence. This is the final stage for students at the Academy, considered the Elite Combat Section."

Dark Sun grabbed Eloise's arm and excitedly asked, "Do normal students ever get the chance to fight one of these Elite Combat students?"

Now it's Eloise's turn to be worried. Did Daren really want to fight an Elite Combat member? "Daren, I think it's best you never get to fight a member of the ECS. They are powerful on a completely different level than those of A Class. Some say they have all surpassed human capabilities and are able to defeat many considered impossible enemies. Those of ECS are definitely a force to be reckoned with." Eloise tried to say this boast without a hint of pride, but must have failed. She realized she had made a huge mistake.

Dark Sun was deep in thought and his eyebrows knitted together. With all seriousness, he asked, "Eloise, which class are you in?"

Eloise was going to make something up. Maybe just say she was one of the B Class students so Daren won't take such an interest. But before she got the chance to reply, the bell rang for the end of lunch.

Immediately, Eloise jumped up, shouting, "Damn, I didn't know time passed so fast! Damn, I'm gonna be late!" She grabbed her two maces and looked at Daren, who was giving her a doubtful look. Giving Daren an apologetic glance, she pleaded, "I'm so sorry Daren, I didn't get the chance to show you anywhere else of this school. But I really need to go and do my job for today."

Dark Sun nodded. He didn't want to cause too much trouble for Eloise. But the pink haired girl turned back suddenly, as if remembering something, and said, "Daren, make sure to be at the battle simulator as soon as you can. That way, you might be able to catch a glimpse of Ezart fighting."

Smiling, Eloise ran down the hallway while waving to Monsieur Rondo on the way. She was late, definitely late, and the principal wasn't going to be very happy about it.

* * *

><p>Taking his time, Dark Sun walked down the busy hallway, avoiding the students that were running down the hall to the battle simulator. Following these clumsy students, Dark Sun eventually saw a door. Before reaching for the panel, he hesitated. He'd only known Eloise for a day, and yet they were already this close. But once he asked about Eloise's class, the pink haired girl gave him an almost painful expression. Dark Sun blamed himself. He must have asked something he shouldn't have. Finally pressing a button to open the door, Dark Sun decided to search for Eloise in the combat simulator and apologize.<p>

Stepping in, the silver haired boy saw a huge screen appear in front of him. Everything else was complete darkness. In fact, the door that Dark Sun just walked in from seemed to disappear. It was like the darkness enveloped him into it's tempting arms.

Now Dark Sun was supposed to be extremely familiar with these surroundings. He hadn't spent his childhood training in battle simulators for nothing. But it seemed like the simulator in Yelan was unique. Dark Sun was no longer fighting with computer projections, but with actual real people. This also means that each person has to separately log in, but be placed into a same virtual world. Dark Sun guessed that this was the log in page.

The screen flickered, but suddenly an old man popped up.

"Hello, my name is Antonias, the principal of Yelan Academy. Please enter your username and password."

And his guess was right. It was the log in page.

"I don't have a username or password." said Dark Sun to the smiling principal. He noticed that this was only a recording. This 'old man' might not really be the principal's true image. It was just a recording used for the log in process.

"Ah, you must be new then," chuckled Antonias, 'Since this is your first time, just create a username and password."

Dark Sun didn't even pause to think. "Username is Dark Sun. Password is xxxx" This was his usual account name from his battle simulation days in the lab.

Antonias paused for a while, eyes closed, as if focusing on something important. A few seconds later, he said, "Account created. Please choose your battle suit and equipment."

At the principal's command, white walls appeared with different outfits and weapons. They stretched to as far as the eye can see. Dark Sun casually walked between these walls, eyes open in curiosity. He noticed heavy duty machine guns to small explosives the size of your fingernail. Spears ranged from meters long to old fashioned Japanese katanas. Dark Sun also glimpsed a pair of maces that reminded him of Eloise's pair, but Eloise's had seemed much more sophisticated. As the young teen kept walking, he saw battle suits that looked more like Halloween costumes, what with Pikachu outfits and princess gowns. Then right beside that there was medieval knight armour. Dark Sun was perplexed. None of these things seemed to pop out at him.

Finally, he noticed a suit that looked a little less flashy. It consisted of a red vest over a black, skin-tight top that had metal buckles for zippers and a pair of tight black jeans. Of course, accessories were included. A matching metal collar, leather belt buckle and black boots hung beside the outfit. Most importantly though, was the protective visor that could block out his most of his facial expression. Dark Sun intended to go all out in the simulation today, in order to test out the students' capabilities. However, he didn't want to get found out. After all, if he did get caught, then he couldn't be friends with Eloise anymore. No one would want to be friends with a true 'monster' like himself. Pointing to his choice, Dark Sun told Antonias, "This one."

Antonias nodded, and closed his eyes again. Immediately, Dark Sun's sleeveless hoodie disappeared, replaced by the red vest. His jeans were switched too, as well as his shoes. He tensely adjusted his metal collar. On second glance, this vest seemed a little too small on him. His abdomen was completely left out in the open, and some part of his back as well, not to mention his chest. The vest ended at a deep V-line that came together with the metal buckles.

Stretching, Dark Sun was surprised to find the uniform quite fit for combat. Although it had next to 0 defensive capabilities, it allowed it's user to move as fast as he wanted. Just what the teenage boy had in mind.

"Now for your weapons?" asked Antonias.

Looking around, the silver haired teen couldn't find anything he liked. Moreover, he had absolutely no need for weapons when his entire body was a fighting machine. But then again, people would be more creeped out being killed by metal claws than with a dagger right? Going for the less inconspicuous option, Dark Sun replied, "Just a dagger and a handheld gun is fine."

Immediately, a dagger was strapped to the teen's thigh and a gun hung on his belt.

Antonias smiled, "Preparations are complete. Would you like to save and enter the battle simulator?"

Nodding, Dark Sun noticed the screen fading, and realized the darkness was materializing into a midnight forest. The moon hung high on the sky, just bright enough to give the trees eerie shadows. Suddenly, a deep, booming voice came from the sky, and a group of birds flew away, startled by the sound.

"Fellow students," came the voice, who didn't seem to have an origin, but instead loomed over the forest, "Today will be a special training session."

Dark Sun looked around, suddenly aware of movements surrounding him.

"Today, the winner of this simulation will receive an exciting reward."

Pausing, the voice seemed to be waiting for the students' reaction. Murmurs and whispers were softly heard. A couple of people even dared to crack their knuckles in anticipation. Dark Sun sighed to himself. Guess the students here don't quite understand the meaning of 'keeping a low cover'.

Continuing, the voice chuckled, "But... I will not say what it is yet, because that just ruins all the fun. However, I'm sure that this is a prize you will not want to miss out. As usual, both students and teams will gain points by their kill counts. However, I have separated stages for accomplished fighters. Right now, everyone is in Stage 1. For every 10 students that you kill, the winner will receive 5 points. When achieving 30 points, a team or individual will move on to Stage 2. More instructions will be given then."

Loud whoops and shouts could be heard around the forest. Dark Sun noticed that some of these cheers were just mere meters away.

The voice seemed to smile, but suddenly raised his voice, "HOWEVER!"

Shouts of protests rang around the forest. People everywhere were covering their ears trying to still their spinning brain. Dark Sun swore he heard the voice laughing to himself, muttering, "Always wanted to shout in the microphone, just once." But no one else seemed to hear that bit.

Coughing to get everyone's attention, the voice warned, "Ahem! Silence now! Or you'll all give yourselves' away. Do all of you want to get killed?"

Everyone immediately shut up. Dark Sun could once again hear the owl that was hooting nearby.

"Now of course I'm not going to let go of such a wonderful prize easily," said the voice, "So I've decided to do something I've never done before..."

Tension raised with the piercing silence.

"... I've decided to let my Elite Combat students join in the fun today."

"What? You can't do that! That's completely unfair!" shouted a voice that was aiming towards they sky.

"He's right!" came a girl's voice that was nearby, "Not the ECS! We'd all get killed!"

More rebellious voices joined in.

"Yeah! What are you thinking, principal? Do you even want there to be a winner or not?"

"Have you finally turned senile and lost it?"

"I bet he's just watching us get killed for fun!"

"Hey, even if this is a simulation, it still hurts like hell when we get killed alright?"

"No shit, Sherlock. The realism in here is 90%"

"SILENCE!" shouted the voice, even louder than last time. Everyone almost dropped to their knees, covering their ears in pain from that loud projection. "YOU BLUNDERING IDIOTS! I WOULDN'T HAVE TO SHOUT IF YOU GUYS DON'T TALK OVER ME ALL THE TIME! LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY FIRST!"

As the noises calmed down, the voice continued again. "Now unlike what some of you may think, I do intend there to be a winner. I will only release 3 of my ECS members in the simulation, and they are only allowed to kill the same number as the rest of you, which is 60. So I never intended to let them go on a killing spree. I never said that. I just wanted to let them participate in the simulation for fun."

Dark Sun still noted some discontent murmurs.

"To make it fair, I won't even give them any special privileges. They will just be like all of you, trying to make it to Stage 2."

A girl's voice could be heard in the distance. "What made you think of letting 'them' loose today? Weren't you always so ready to protect their secrecy? What if we see them when we fight? Won't their identity be found out?"

The voice laughed, a cruel and merciless laugh, and said, "Do you think you'll even have time to see their face? Before you get killed of course."

The girl's voice immediately shut up. Followed by worried whispers all around.

"Now, now," said the voice, "That's quite enough talking. My 3 ECS members have already set out, so I'd watch your back if I was you."

Quickly, people started running and moving in fright. Before full panic ensued, Dark Sun clearly heard the voice add, "May the odds be ever in your favor." Giving one final chuckle, the voice shut off his microphone connection.

Dark Sun decided that this was 'Game Start' and his microchip immediately locked on to the nearest moving students. They weren't exactly hard to find, since they were literally shouting amongst themselves and making a complete ruckus in the trees.

"What should we do now?"

"Don't look at me, you're the team leader here."

"Hey look dude, I'm fighting on your team as a favor to you. But I'd rather not deal with the pain of getting killed time and time again," came a boy's voice.

"Wait, what do you mean, Ren?"

"Yeah, Ren. What are you talking about?"

"No! Ren! Stop! What ARE YOU DO-?"

Dark Sun sat on a tree branch above the team of 6 that were talking and watched as the scene unfolded. A boy named Ren supposedly turned on his teammates. Reaching for his gun, Dark Sun didn't even hesitate before firing at each of the students' hearts. This team was weak. He didn't have need for the weak. As each of the fired bullets found their home in a student's head, Dark Sun made sure to leave the boy named Ren alive.

Ren looked around, disbelief clouding his eyes. He had only just killed Gwen, but why did the other's fall down too? Looking up, he saw a flash of silver jump down from above. Ren tried to get a closer look at the enemy, squinting his eyes that were getting blurrier by the second. Why were his eyes getting blurry? That's when Ren realized that his attacker was mere inches from his face, and looking down, barely made out a huge bleeding hole where his heart was supposed to be.

"What in the-" were his last words as the system dragged Ren out of the simulator.

Dark Sun dropped the boy's still-bleeding body, and walked away, disappearing into the shadows once more. That team might've been weak, but Ren was disgusting. He didn't seem to have a heart that cared for his teammates, now thanks to Dark Sun, he doesn't have a heart at all. Dark Sun looked at his hand dyed red in blood, reveling in the feeling of tearing flesh.

5 down, 55 more to go.

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><p>* It'd be my pleasure.<br>** Your French is very good.  
>*** Thank you very much.<br>**** Voila! This is today's menu!  
>***** Take your pick!<p>

Alright, done with French for now. That took a lot of work. The conversation was short and simple but since I'm not a French speaker I'm pretty sure I have mistakes. Any Frenchies wanna help me correct?

And I couldn't resist the Hunger Games reference. I just couldn't.

Please continue to review guys! If you want faster updates :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes:** Hey guys! I know it's been like a month or something since I last uploaded, but to make it up for you, I have 2 new chapters! YAY! :D These two chapters like to switch perspectives easily, but that's unavoidable cause I have so many people to talk about. You will also be introduced to many of the characters from the original story, like Eloise, Elian, Eli and Ezart. Shain is in the next chapter!

BTW, I have never understood why all of their names start with 'E' and they all look so similar. I often mix their names up when I'm writing, and it's very annoying. So forgive me if there's a mix-up in here. I tried my best to edit it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

Flashes of light and soft 'swishing' sounds could be seen and heard amid an otherwise silent, dense forest.

"Damn it, Eli. Whatever happened to the thoughts you said were around here?" growled a voice.

"They were there a moment ago. Now they've just all disappeared," remarked a voice in reply.

A girl's voice added in, "That must mean that someone else got to them before we did. Damn. And we only needed to kill one more person too."

At this, the girl's voice started whining and pouting, driving her two male teammates crazy to no end.

"For God's sake Eloise. Please keep your mouth shut. We're supposed to be undercover remember?" said Eli, whispering to scold his immature teammate.

Eloise stuck her tongue out. "I don't wanna be here in this forest! I swear I saw a snake slithering around a second ago! I just wanna kill someone and get this Stage over with. We were so close too! WAHHHH..."

Eli rolled his eyes. Looking for backup, he instinctively turned around to look at Elian, his teammate who was waving his twin energy swords around in organized circles, trying to clear a path for the two of them behind him.

As expected, Elian stopped his 'lawnmower' twin swords and turned around to give a hard glare at Eloise, the latter immediately shut her mouth, eyes open in surprise.

"Give it a rest Eloise. I'm just as pissed as you are, albeit for another reason."

Eloise and Eli looked at each other. There you go. He finally said it. It wasn't just the two of them over-thinking things, Elian was upset. They noticed their teammate's easygoing demeanor had faded away since the start of the simulation, leaving only a dark, untouchable atmosphere instead. Elian's usual bright eyes were replaced by a stern look and knitted eyebrows. Even his trademark laugh was gone, only to be filled by discontent sighs.

Elian turned away from his two teammates, and started his 'lawn-mowing' again.

Eloise shakily raised her hand to stop Elian. "You-you wanna talk about it?"

Elian's neck turned around so fast, Eloise jumped back in surprise.

"Woah there Elian! I thought you were gonna bite me for a second!" shouted Eloise, holding her hand far away from Elian's mouth.

"Oh I know what's going on. The principal didn't tell him about this mission beforehand," said Eli, "Sheesh, Elian. Why are you so mad about such a small thing?"

Elian swiftly turned around to glare at Eli this time. "Didn't I tell you not to read my mind unless we're in battle? And no, this is not a 'small thing' at all. I originally didn't sign up for a mission today, especially not a mission like this!"

Eli's usual ice cold eyes suddenly seemed intensely focused on a nearby tree, trying his best to avoid Elian's fierce, burning glare.

Eloise tried to lighten up the atmosphere. "Hey guys, come off it. Eli, you didn't have to use your mind reading. I'm sure Elian would have told us even if you didn't do that. And Elian, we all received the notification from the principal a week before! Did you not get it?"

Elian's eyes seemed to burn hotter at this. "WHAT? BOTH of you got notifications? Am I the only one who got pulled into this last minute?"

"Well..."

"Goddamn that principal! I was supposed to go to a sports car exhibition today! I even reserved a ticket as a VIP 2 months beforehand!"

Eloise's eyes were wide in surprise. "What? That ticket was your's?"

Elian looked up, seemingly confused. "Yes, it was mine. Why?"

"Hehe... Well," said Eloise, trying to avert her gaze from Elian's, "The principal told us to go through the school's mailbox to find a ticket for a car exhibition. We found it, and gave it to him."

"You what?"

"I gave it to him," repeated Eloise. Elian's voice started getting hoarser and hoarser. This was definitely not a good sign. In her own defense, she tried to add, "Hey, but if your name was on the letter, we would've gave it to you! We didn't know who the receiver was supposed to be!"

Elian was silent for a while. His face was dark, and both Eli and Eloise couldn't even look at their teammate without backing up a couple of steps. Eli seemed increasingly disturbed, even to the extent of covering his mouth to stop his gasps. Eloise decided it must be because Eli could read what was going on inside Elian's mind right now. Sometimes, being a mind reader isn't all that great.

Taking a deep breath, Elian quietly muttered under his breath, "No wonder I couldn't find that ticket. I thought it had gotten lost in the mail..."

Finally raising his head, Elian looked into his two teammates eyes, and said, "Come on, let's get out of this God-forsaken forest. We just need to kill one more person to finish this God-forsaken Stage. The faster we finish this God-forsaken simulation the better. Then I'll have a well-deserved talk with that God-damned principal."

Eloise and Eli both gave a forced laugh. Well, at least Elian got his fighting spirit back.

"Wait, don't talk for a sec," said Eli, who closed his eyes, and focused on his mind reading. Five new thoughts had appeared on his radar, in the north-west direction. Thankfully, they weren't that far away.

"We have targets now. Head for the north-west."

"Yes!" shouted Eloise, who was jumping up and down in excitement, "No more trees! No more plants! No more snakes!"

"Eloise..." warned Elian, who immediately went back to his 'lawn-mowing'. At least they had targets now. It won't be long before he could finish this simulation and give the principal a piece of his mind.

Eventually, after 5 more minutes of 'lawn-mowing', Elian stopped because he could hear people moving. They couldn't risk being seen, so the trio each stood behind a tree, listening in to their soon-to-be victims' conversation.

"We still need 30 more people right? Or was it 31... I lost track."

"I thought we killed more than that though!"

"No, you didn't do anything at all. You weren't even the one fighting. You're just there to help us heal."

"Yeah, keep your mouth shut if you aren't even fighting."

"SHUT UP!" shouted a voice that rose above all others, "We need to kill 30 more people! I've been keeping count all this time!"

"Wow, we expected no less from our leader."

Elian peeked out from behind his tree. A team of 5 composed entirely of girls were discussing about their next attack. Clearly, the one in the black jumpsuit was the 'leader' of the group. All the girls looked up to her, and she did have one amazing body.

Shaking his head, Elian tried to erase the girl from his mind. No matter how amazing her body was in that jumpsuit, he would still have to kill her in the next minute anyway.

"Psst... We can only kill one more person. Who do you wanna pick?" whispered Elian to Eloise.

Now it was Eloise's turn to peek from her tree. Immediately, she recognized the girl in the black jumpsuit. Mouth curving up, Eloise whispered back, "Don't worry, I got this one."

Giving one nod to Eli, who already knew of her plan through mind reading, Eloise positioned herself until she was on the opposite side of her victim. There was no way she would forget this face. This blonde temptress was the one who harassed Daren this morning! It was her horrible fate for Eloise to take an interest in her. Now then, how will she look with a mace slammed into her face?

Reaching for one of her maces, Eloise was still undercover of some bushes. In one swift move, she threw her round mace at the blonde girl. A split second before the mace reached it's target, the blonde raised her head, offering a direct target for the incoming weapon. Eloise couldn't stifle down a giggle. The blonde was knocked out 5 meters from where she stood, and the system immediately dragged her out of the simulation.

By this time, Eli and Elian had reached where Eloise was, the latter rolling around on the floor, now having a full-on laugh attack.

"Oh my God! Did you see her face? Ahahaha! That was so funny! I'm such a genius!" laughed Eloise, barely able to enunciate each word.

"Shhh! Eloise, keep it down!" reminded Elian.

Suddenly, Elian noticed his fingers have begun to fade away. Then, eventually his whole hand disappeared. Eloise and Eli must've figured this out too, since Eloise stopped laughing and Eli had a surprised look.

"Wait! We can't go to the next Stage yet! I didn't retrieve my mace!" whined Eloise.

Elian forced out a laugh. "I think it's a little too late to remember that," he said, right before his entire body had disappeared, which was followed by Eloise and Eli.

* * *

><p>Dark Sun bounced from tree to tree. Just a second ago, he had heard a girl's laughter coming from this way. To his surprised he found his next target to be 4 deathly pale girls.<p>

"Did you see that?"

"The mace you mean?"

"Yeah, I saw the mace too."

"What about our leader?"

Almost giving an impatient sigh, Dark Sun grabbed his dagger and jumped down from the tree. He moved so fast, none of the girls even realized that someone else was among them. Suddenly, all four of their throats began to spurt out blood.

"Wa-ait..." managed one girl, who tried to say something, but came out in gurgles instead. Before the system pulled her away too, she managed to catch a glimpse of Dark Sun's silver hair.

That was his 60th kill. However, Dark Sun merely stood there, enjoying a short rest, and ran one of his hands through his hair. It was covered with so much blood that it dyed his usual shining silver hair a bright red. He vaguely seemed to recall these 4 girls. They were part of the blonde girl's entourage from this morning. Noticing his fingers were fading away, Dark Sun realized he must be transporting to the next Stage. To be honest, Stage 1 was sort of boring. He had met no one that could peak his interest, so he blindly killed anyone he could find. Hopefully, Stage 2 would be better. Maybe he could even find Ezart, or meet Eloise and apologize.

Eloise sighed, and stared blankly at the screen. Being from the Elite Combat Section, her team naturally finished first. However, they still had to wait for the rest of the students to finish battling. As a sort of rest-stop, instead of being transferred directly to Stage 2, the trio was sent to a pure white room that contained nothing but three large TV screens. On the right, it showed the number of students left in Stage 1. The middle showed some footage of students fighting, and the left screen showed the people that have qualified for Stage 2.

* * *

><p>"Elian! How long have we been in here?" whined Eloise.<p>

"30 minutes? Somewhere around there?" answered Elian.

Eloise had no choice but to go back and stare at the the three screens absentmindedly. After all the footage, she couldn't catch a glimpse of Daren. Could the poor boy be killed right from the beginning?

"Oh wait! Look! There's Ezart fighting!" remarked Eloise, who suddenly regained her excitement, "Look! He's beating up a team of 10 all by himself!"

Eli and Elian leaned in for a closer look. Eloise was right. Ezart seemed to have no trouble with his opponents, even when he was outnumbered. "Hmm... I wonder what's taking him so long?" asked Elian lazily. He had been lying on the floor for a while now. When were they going to be able to go to Stage 2?

"He can't take any longer. There's only around 20 people left," said Eli, who was pointing to the right TV screen.

Eloise squinted her eyes and leaned in closer. "You're right. Ezart does need to hurry up."

The Ezart on the screen finally finished off his last opponent and gave a mighty victory cry. Almost immediately, he started to disappear. Eventually, the left screen's number rose by one. Ezart was officially qualified to go to Stage 2.

"Yay! He did it! Hey Elian, if we meet Ezart, can I be the one to go fight him?" asked Eloise energetically.

Elian swiftly replied, "No, of course not. We'll be seen. We can't be seen."

"Aw.. C'mon Elian!" whined Eloise, who was pouting again.

Elian smiled to himself. If it wasn't because of the principal's orders. a fight between Ezart and Eloise would be pretty fun to watch. They were both the 'explosive strength' type after all. One hit from Ezart's fist or Eloise's mace could be fatal. It could be pretty interesting to see which was stronger, mace or fist.

"That's it," remarked Eli, "There's no more students able to fight in Stage 1. Including us, around 50 people are going to the next Stage."

Elian lifted his head to look at the screen. Eli was right, as usual, and the pure white walls were fading away, revealing a new surrounding and stage...

* * *

><p>The white wall that Dark Sun was leaning on suddenly disappeared. No matter how coordinated his body was, Dark Sun still stumbled backwards a bit. As he regained his balance, the teen observed the setting of this next Stage. A light powder of snow had set, and a variety of hardy weeds stuck out from the dry, waterless ground. Even the trees were left bare, stripped of their usual green shawls by the coming winter. A cold, heart-freezing gust of wind ruffled Dark Sun's hair, trying to bite the teen's nerves to feel the raw, frozen tundra. Unfortunately for the wind, it's hard work would all come to naught, for Dark Sun's skin was impervious to the chill.<p>

However, the silver haired teen was perhaps the only one who wasn't stung by the wild terrain. Elian, Eli, and Eloise were shivering like the end of a rattlesnake's tail, huddling together for warmth. They had only just arrived at this next Stage, but their bodies were already feeling the strain. This tundra may look harmless, but it's natural habitat definitely wasn't suited for humans.

"He-ey Elian, how l-long do you think we'll have t-to st-tay here?" asked Eloise, who's usual loud voice had diminished into a soft whisper.

Elian blew out a cloud of cold air. "Dun-no. W-wish the principal would just hu-urry up and get this o-over with..."

Eli's nose was red. "Don't t-talk guys. Save your energy."

Suddenly, a booming voice appeared from the sky again. The trio let out a sigh of relief. They had never been so happy to hear the principal's new instructions. That meant that Stage 2 was finally about to begin.

"Hello fellow students," said the voice, "You all did well on making it this far. I expect all of you to feel quite cold right now, so I'll skip the congratulating for later."

An angry mutter came from the back of Elian's throat. "That old turtle... Just wait till I get back."

"Ahaha, that's very cute of you. But you'll have to make it back first." replied the voice, seemingly amused.

Elian was taken aback. Eloise and Eli was too. Did the principal just respond to them through the loudspeaker?

"Now then, this is no time to be confused. The temperature for this Stage is set to -20 degrees celsius. I will start the instructions so that none of you freeze to death before this Stage even starts." A short cough could be heard, as if the voice was trying to clear his throat. "Your job this time is to catch a silver firefly as your ticket to the next stage."

"A firefly?" shouted out an angry voice from afar, "How in world are we supposed to be looking for that in this huge tundra?"

The voice sighed. "You guys never let me finish, huh? That's fine, it waste's your time, not mine. Anyways, I'm not going to be torturing you, so keep your mouth shut and listen. The fireflies are going to emit a silver glow around them, making them easy to find. How to catch them is up to you, but once you have them in your possession, they will lead you to the exit."

A hologram of a glowing portal appeared on the sky.

"You may only reach the next Stage if you have obtained a firefly, so don't even try to force yourself into the portal. You'll only be dragged out of the system and disqualified from the simulation."

A girl's voice cried out, "But can we take other people's fireflies?"

"Indeed, of course you can," answered the voice, "Actually, you'll HAVE to steal and take fireflies from each other, as there are only 10 fireflies in this entire terrain. Mind you, we have around 50 people trying to compete for them, so it's going to be a free-for-all. As long as you defeat the present owner or team who has the firefly, the bug will then be transferred to your possession."

After a short pause, the voice continued, "Aha! I knew I forgot to mention something."

Suddenly, a pink cloud of smoke drifted into the Stage from nowhere, and quickly spread around the entire tundra.

Dark Sun realized the smoke's presence first, and his microchip immediately determined it to be extremely dangerous, if not poisonous. Looking around, the pink cloud became denser, and the teen could no longer see more than five meters from where he stood. In fact, Dark Sun felt that it could still get denser, and soon, he wouldn't be able to see his own hand if he put it right in front of his face.

There was no other choice. The smoke left him nowhere to hide. Thankfully, the cloud was only thick on the bottom, and if Dark Sun tilted his head, the sky remained a blurry blue. He didn't want to use his powers in the simulator, but even his remodeled body would find this gas to be painful if inhaled for a long time. With one knee bent on the ground, Dark Sun focused on moving the metals in his body to his shoulder blades. This was his first time to try what Theodore had designed for him, but it had left him a feeling of anxiety. He couldn't let anyone see him in this form. This form that made him akin to the devil: the Satan's steel wings.

A flurry of steel feathers forced their way out of the teen's body, piercing his vest and seemed anxious to be let out. The feathers weren't what the soft, downy ones little kids like to play with in the park, but sharp, metallic ones that could cut you to pieces if you came too close. In one swift movement, the wings stretched to their full length, about 4 meters in total. Each individual feather ran smoothly together, allowing Dark Sun to take his first initial flaps without a sound.

Dark Sun looked at his wings, feeling a mix of revulsion and awe at the same time. Were these 'things' coming from his own body? Was this what they would call an abomination? Yet part of him felt such pride in owning a pair of wings like this. He would be allowed the pleasure that no human had done before, to take flight into the sky like a bird.

In a rush of air and pink smoke, Dark Sun's wings lifted him up into the sky, away from all the dirt and contamination. Hopefully, the smoke would eventually be thick enough so that no one will be able to see him.

The voice interrupted his thoughts. "That's what I forgot, my specially designed Pink Smoke. Literal name, I know, but I was out of inspiration that day. However, I did make it personally you know, so I'm quite proud of it."

Coughing and sputtering were heard everywhere. Some people seemed more weak to the poison.

"As a head's up, let me remind you that 15 minutes of inhaling this gas will be fatal," said the voice, "For some of you, maybe only 10. It depends on a person's antibodies, really. However, it is good for one thing. This way, all of you will be able to see the fireflies' glow better. I'm pretty sure they won't be that hard to find now. Also, remember to take shallow breaths, as inhaling a lot of the smoke at once will create side-effects like nausea, and maybe even vomiting."

Angry mutters were heard, despite the obvious consequences which the voice just told them about.

The voice continued, as if surprised, "I'm always amazed at the tenacious teens these days. Just trying to move your death early, huh? Well, it is good to be young like you guys... Oh yes. One last thing before I leave you all to it, the smoke is also extremely flammable. In exactly 15 minutes after I say 'go', the smoke will be lit on fire, and then good luck to anybody who hasn't gotten to Stage 3 yet." The voice laughed, a merciless, borderline insane sort of laugh, and ended with, "Best of luck!", before shutting off the microphone.

Elian was furious. Eli and Eloise could tell. Especially Eli, since he could read what was going on inside his teammate's mind right now. He had tried to stop invading into his friends' privacy, but sometimes, mental pictures pop into his head whether he liked it or not. Elian's thoughts went a little something like this...

'_That old geezer... I would wring his neck like a sponge and then break his four limbs if I ever caught hold of him again. No wait, I'll tie him to the chair, then borrow one of Eloise's maces to have some fun. Hopefully I'd break a few bones and teeth, just enough so he could never issue me another mission again. Won't torture us my ass, he's just using us as toys to play with! Freezing cold temperatures, stupid tasks, poisonous FLAMMABLE smoke that could kill us all in 15 minutes! I ought to slap some sense into him. Yes, until I get back... Just you wait until I get back...'_

Elian's face contorted into expressions that Eloise wasn't sure was even possible for humans, let alone her usual cheerful friend. Seemed like the principal really overdid it this time, if he made even Elian this mad. To reassure and remind her teammate that the Stage had already started, Eloise put her hand on Elian's shoulder, which caused the latter to almost jump in surprise.

Elian was Elian after all, he wouldn't let his emotions control him for too long. Giving a stiff nod back to Eloise, the trio immediately knew what they had to do. They didn't even need to discuss their plans, because that's how well they knew each other. Elian covered his nose with a piece of cloth, and his teammates followed him. Having not the slightest idea where to start, the trio picked a random direction and just went from there.

* * *

><p>Dark Sun's gaze skimmed through the pink, foggy mess that was the setting of Stage 2. After the voice said 'go', the teen's bird eye view could easily make out a few soft glows from the smoke. On to his far right was a significantly brighter glow, to which Dark Sun guessed was probably the portal. Now he had two options to go from here. One choice was to quickly catch a firefly and fly directly to the exit. Being airborne, he had the advantage of moving faster and locating the bugs easier, thus making this Stage extremely easy for him again. Option Two was to risk the smoke to try and find Ezart or Eloise. He had 15 minutes, and Dark Sun was sure that he would be able to catch a firefly and still have time to search for them. After seeing Ezart's footage in the rest-stop after Stage 1, Dark Sun's interest was clearly peaked. He had high hopes that maybe Ezart would surprise him and give him the straightforward fight he wanted.<p>

Deciding on Option Number Two, Dark Sun flapped his wings a couple of times and aimed for the silver glow closest to him. As he swooped down into the smoke, the firefly had no chance to even realize it was caught until it was safely trapped between the teen's fingers. A robotic 'ding' sounded from the firefly, as it registered to the system it's first owner. Putting the little bug into his vest pocket, Dark Sun flew overtop the smoke, trying to find any sign of either Ezart or Eloise...

* * *

><p>"Psh! Stupid smoke. I can't even see where I'm walking," muttered Ezart angrily, trying to nurse a stubbed toe that had hit a frozen rock. Kicking away his obstacle, the spiky, orange-haired teen coughed a few times, then shook his head, trying to shake away all the pollution around him, but to no avail. Grumpily, he continued walking down the cold, lifeless tundra in no apparent direction.<p>

No, he wasn't lost, even though he appeared to be. Ezart's instincts told him to walk this way, and his instincts were usually frighteningly correct. The mischievous teen had long since learned to trust his instincts in a life-or-death situation, and it hasn't failed him yet. As expected, Ezart soon saw a bright glow coming not very far from him. Walking faster with anticipation, a bright, circle of light appeared. Obviously this wasn't a firefly, but then again, Ezart never intended to aim for a firefly in the first place. This was the portal, the entrance to Stage 3. Why waste his time and energy trying to look for a bug when he could have other people bring it right to him on a silver plate?

The corner of Ezart's mouth curled up, making the silver dragon on his face slither with anticipation. He wanted to laugh and praise himself for coming up with such a good idea. This way, he didn't have to move around and breath in more of the toxic smoke than was needed. Anyone who catches a firefly was bound to come here, and he would be ready to sabotage them. Clearly content with himself, Ezart took a seat next to a tree and got ready for a short nap, at least until the first person arrives.

* * *

><p>Eloise coughed harshly, her throat convulsing with dryness, threatening to give up her lunch. The smoke filled her nostrils and almost gagged her, making even breathing a problem. Stumbling on a rock, Eloise fell onto the ground, and cursed at her current predicament.<p>

"Eloise, are you okay?" asked Elian through the cloth, very worried for his teammate.

Eloise picked herself up and continued walking, brushing past Elian. She had her pride as a member of the Elite Combat Section, so there was no way she was going to let this stop her. "I'm fine Elian. Now don't talk and keep walking. We need to find this stupid firefly soon, and I have a feeling time is running out," said Eloise, barely able to mouth each word.

Elian gave his teammate a concerned look. He had never seen Eloise's face this pale, not even that time when they had to stop a bomb in the last few seconds. She had stayed professionally calm back then, and was a great factor to their success on that mission. But now, Eloise looked ready to fall down and give up. Not to mention her coughing and choking, even her fingers and lips were almost blue with cold. Anyone could tell that she needed medical help, but neither Elian nor Eli knew how to help her.

Eli felt even worse. He may not be coughing as much as Eloise, but the smoke was making him dizzy and sick to his stomach. He couldn't even focus very well on his mind reading, which he knew his teammates were all depending on. All of their hopes were placed on him, but he just couldn't find any thoughts in his radar. He didn't know if it was because of the smoke interfering with his concentration, or if it was just pure bad luck that he hasn't sensed anyone yet. What's worse, he could still read Eloise's mind, and knows full well how much she's suffering right now. Yet she's still doing her best to hold on so as to not drag Elian and him down.

Looking away, Eli tensed his fists. Even focusing with all of his power, everything was still blurry, like the smoke clouded everyone's thoughts. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "I'm sorry. I just can't sense anyone right now."

Elian's eyes flashed a moment of despair. He knew that Eli was trying his best to do his part, but time really was running out. This 'pick a direction and go with it' plan wasn't going so well. They needed a lead, and Eli was unable to give them any hints.

But in turn, Eli definitely noted Elian's disappointed glance. His gaze was fastened to the ground, shame creeping up his body. This was the first time he let them down. The first time he was unable to help his teammates. Now how will he ever face them once they get out of the simulation, knowing it was purely his fault that they failed the mission? Would he be the the reason of the first failure in the Elite Combat Section?

Eloise felt even worse than before, if that was even possible, once she saw the tense atmosphere between her two best friends. They had survived countless life-or-death situations together in the real world, so how were they going to let a fake simulation ruin their reputation?

"He-hey come on guys, I think I hear people over there! Let's go check it out!" said Eloise, who was forcing out a smile and trying to sound excited.

Elian and Eli looked at each other, and their shoulders both relaxed. Thank goodness Eloise was here. They both knew that she was lying, since both of them obviously never heard anything, but they took the chance to apologize to each other.

Eloise smiled. She was happy her teammates were on even terms again. She never blamed Eli in the first place, and hoped her mind reading friend won't feel so much pressure. She would hold on for as long as they needed, even if it meant her fingers were going to fall off from frostbite or her legs were going to break from exhaustion.

So now all they need to do is to find that damned elusive firefly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Note: **Voila, the next chapter! Originally, I wrote this chapter and Chapter 11 as one, but then I decided to separate them cause it was like double what I usually write. So I'll leave it up to you guys. Do you guys want me to write around 10,000 words/chapter or my usual 5000? Please review and share your opinion!

Oh, and the principal's granddaughter was an OC character I created. I hope she'll have some more parts in the story later on. I'm looking forward to writing her character :)

And please review your take on the story! Plus, thank-you to the people who reviewed and favourited me last time!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

'_Good. Coast is clear.'_

A teen wearing an unique ancient Chinese robe rushed towards the portal, followed by three other people who were dwindling behind, unable to catch up to their master's speed.

'_Aha! There it is! The portal!'_

The firefly glowed brighter in his outstretched hand. One more step, just one more step till he could reach Stage 3.

A hand suddenly grabbed his arm, mere inches from the edge of the portal.

Shocked for a moment, the teen looked up with anxiety. Then upon recognizing the person's touch, the teen shook off his enemy's hand, while flicking his robe away to reach for the dual sai that hung on his waist.

"Ezart, eh? Should've known it was you."

"Ahaha! Shain Bailian, did you see your face back there? It was my first time seeing you so shocked!" teased Ezart. The dragon on his face also seemed to dance with amusement.

Shain obviously wasn't impressed. It was his misfortune to meet Ezart here out of all places. Just when he was so close to his goal too. No doubt his long time arch enemy will try to pry the firefly from his dying hands.

A few panting voices echoed behind Shain. "Master, would you like us to take care of him?"

The teen didn't even turn around to acknowledge his three servants. As far as he knew, they were just all spies sent by his father to keep him in check. Besides, they definitely weren't strong enough to take Ezart down. Then again, Shain had never lost to the spiky, orange haired baboon, no matter how many times he was challenged to a fight.

Ezart had long since noticed Shain's three followers: an ice witch, a gunman and a dwarf. Rolling his eyes, he taunted, "Oh, I see you've brought your 'Snow White' trio here again. Did you want them to protect you? How about you tell them to all attack me at once? Yourself included. I can take all of you on."

Shain smirked, refusing to lose his cool. Slyly, he replied, "No, just me would be enough."

Giving a signal to his men to make sure none of them interrupt his fight, Shain swiftly lifted his dual sai and ran for his opponent. Ezart blocked the teen's attack, but wasn't quick enough to counter. By the time his punch touched the ground, Shain had already spun around to his back, aiming for his neck. Ezart tried to whip his arm around to reach his snake-like enemy, but Shain was too fast, and evaded his attack. Immediately, Shain stabbed one of his sai into Ezart's leg, forcing the latter to bend on one knee.

Ezart clenched his teeth and grimaced at the pain.

Shain laughed through the smoke, "Was that all, Mr. Orange Baboon? Were those your only tricks?"

Ezart coughed, and stood up, while his leg was still spewing out blood. Damn this smoke. It was making him dizzy and his vision blurry. Glaring at Shain, he answered, "Oh, you haven't seen the worst of it yet."

Shain merely stepped away from Ezart's punch, and continued to evade the other punches that his opponent were throwing left and right. He did it with such grace, it was like he was dancing, and he knew it was pissing Ezart off. His opponent's attacks became more and more predictable, trying desperately to land one hit. Shain yawned, just to tease the baboon.

That action seemed to set off a fire inside Ezart. Shain was laughing at him! Ezart's eyes burned with a scorching flame, as his attacks became faster and faster. There was no way he would lose again. No way. He would kill Shain, and finally be the victor in their age-old war.

Remarkably, Shain found he had to actually try to counter Ezart now. He couldn't let Ezart push him around and not go on the offense. His opponent's speed had increased, so he had to end the fight soon, or things might end up messy. How much time did he have left?

Looking for an opening, Shain aimed for Ezart's stomach, which was promptly blocked by the latter. Ezart tried to punch Shain's head with his free hand, but the teen ducked and kicked at Ezart's injured leg. Ezart winced, but his eyes were still determined. He couldn't be knocked down. In return, Ezart grabbed Shain's leg, and aimed to break it with one swift punch.

Shain knew that his position right now left him very vulnerable. He was of the high-agility types, so if Ezart succeeded in breaking his leg, then there would be no way for Shain to dodge his future punches. It might as well be an instant win for his opponent. Using his last resort, Shain threw one of his sai at Ezart's heart. At this point blank proximity, there was a 99% chance it would hit. If Ezart succeeded in breaking his legs, then at least let him die the next moment after.

Ezart's eyes widened at the upcoming sai. He twisted his body away, but wasn't quick enough. The sai pierced his left arm, basically rendering it useless. However, Ezart knew that he couldn't let go of Shain's leg. This would probably be his last chance to attack the poisonous snake. Ezart threw his opponent onto the ground, causing Shain to cough up a storm of blood. With one powerful foot, Ezart stepped on one of Shain's legs, causing a crisp 'crack'. Shain growled with anger and pain, and was temporarily paralyzed, unable to move.

Ezart wrenched out Shain's sai that had been stuck in his arm. He didn't care that more blood was leaking out. This was going to be his victory. Finally, he would win against Shain. Finally.

A bullet wormed it's way into his back. Ezart turned around like a mad beast, growling in the back of his throat, wondering who was suicidal enough to interrupt his moment. His eyes eventually fell on the gunman, who one of Shain's followers. Now they spring up to help their master? It was a bit too late for that wasn't it?

Shain's voice contorted with pain, but still managed to scream out, "Don't get in the way! This is our fight!"

Ezart's mouth curled up at the ends. It didn't matter that they wanted to pick a fight with him, he was up to the challenge. But first, Ezart gingerly broke Shain's other leg, leaving his opponent writhing on the floor in agony. Perfect, this was the ideal image for a dying snake.

The gunman looked bewildered, once he realized Ezart was walking towards him. Ezart then remembered what the instructions were. He had to kill the entire team in order for the firefly to become his. Brilliant. Another excuse to beat these kids up to the high heavens.

By now, the gunman was joined by the ice witch, possessing huge claws, and the dwarf, who held no conceivable weapon. The ice queen ran to meet Ezart, but with one punch was knocked unconscious a few metres away. The gunman tried to fire as many bullets as possible, but none of them managed to hit Ezart. The latter merely blocked them with his armor or caught them with his metal gloves. Either way, he walked steadfastly towards his remaining two targets. Then suddenly, the dwarf bared his teeth and jumped for Ezart's face. He was like a mad dog, and Ezart definitely wasn't prepared for that. It took him a few seconds to knock the dwarf away from his face, but it had left him with some bloody scratches and a broken nose. Not to mention a couple extra bullet holes from the gunman, because Ezart couldn't see enough to block the bullets.

Completely angered now, Ezart threw his leg at the gunman, kicking him towards a tree. The poor thing knocked down several other trees in the process. Shain face-palmed. Well that ended quickly. In a complete and utter defeat of his subordinates. He had known that they stood no chance, but the way they lost was absolutely pathetic.

By the time he reopened his eyes, Ezart had already returned to his side.

"Forgive my subordinates for disturbing our fight. I'll punish them for it later."

Ezart grunted, wiping away blood on his mouth. "I'd have to kill them eventually anyways." He paused, as if in thought, "Well then, you poisonous snake, how am I supposed to celebrate this victory? How about I leave it to you. How do you want to die?"

Shain laughed. "That should've been my question to you. I wonder what was different about this fight, I've won all the others," his eyes drifted away, "I wonder if it was because..."

"Because of what?"

Shain looked at Ezart with a weird expression. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"Noticed what?" asked Ezart impatiently.

"Ever since the start of this fight, you've never realized it? I'm blind right now, Ezart. I'm blind!" shouted Shain at the top of his voice. He coughed several times afterwards. It was a bad idea to raise one's voice in the blasted smoke. Now even breathing seemed hard to do.

Ezart's eyes grew big. "What are you talking about? Blind?" He stared into Shain's eyes, and for one second, his pupils shined with a pink luster. Then the next second, it disappeared.

"Ever since the start of this stage, the pink smoke irritated my eyes. At first, everything was just blurry, but soon I couldn't see anything at all," said Shain, "I still can't believe you've never noticed it."

Ezart retorted, "I'm sorry, but I don't make it a habit of staring into a guy's eyes." He had tried to sound cool on the outside, but mentally, his emotions were burning. He'd really never realized that Shain had been blind. That's how well Shain fought even with the handicap. True, he did feel that Shain's openings were a bit more today, but he never took it to heart. Now his victory was ruined. He didn't even feel elated at winning anymore. As far as he was concerned, this fight couldn't even count.

"-Although thank God I trained how to fight blindfolded when I was young, or else I really would have been screwed this time around," ranted Shain, "Hey baboon, you mind killing me and getting this over with? My fingers are already frozen and I am in tremendous pain right now."

Ezart grunted and lifted up Shain's sai. He couldn't even look at his opponent's face as he did so. This was supposed to be his victory fight. But after hearing the truth, all the adrenaline and excitement had faded away, leaving only bitter emptiness.

"Hey, I'll look forward to when we fight next time."

Ezart turned his head to look at Shain. The latter had died holding a coy smile plastered on his face. Ezart smiled at this too. Yes, there'd always be next time. His victory will just have to wait.

Searching through Shain's pockets, Ezart finally found the glowing, silver firefly. With a mechanic 'Ding', the bug re-registered him as it's next master. Putting his ticket to the next stage in his pocket, Ezart headed for the portal.

* * *

><p>Skimming atop the pink smoke, Dark Sun was running out of time. He had exactly 3 minutes and 43 seconds till this entire place would be blown to kingdom come. And yet he still hasn't found Eloise or Ezart. The teen sighed. Just how big was this tundra?<p>

"NOOO!"

Dark Sun's face turned towards the voice's direction. The scream was definitely from a man, and it wasn't far away either.

Using his microchip, he was able to see through the smoke and register where the voice came from. As he scanned through the smoke, three life forms came up, two men and one woman. It seemed like this was a team.

As Dark Sun neared the trio, his microchip was able to make out more details. One of the men was hugging a woman, and the other was standing idly, not moving a muscle. This scene seemed quite odd to the silver haired teen, as he flapped his wings over top of the spectacle.

Wait, the girl in the man's arms had pink hair! Dark Sun's eyes widened and his eyebrows creased. Could it be? He swooped down into the smoke, intent on checking if things were really as bad as he thought.

* * *

><p>Elian lifted Eloise up, and shook her shoulders. His desperation was apparent when shouting, "Come on Eloise! Wake up! We don't have time for this!" This can't be happening. They had finally found a team who had a firefly. They were so close to killing them all. Until Eloise collapsed from an enemy's bullet and fell unconscious. Now, she wasn't even breathing.<p>

"Eli!" snapped Elian, "Do you sense anything from her?"

Eli seemed shaken from a nightmare. He shook his head. Eloise's mind was quiet. Completely quiet.

Elian cursed. He lifted Eloise up, intent on getting her to the portal, or wherever that is. Even if this was a simulation, he just couldn't bear to see his beloved friend like this. They didn't have enough time anyways. Even if they have to be disqualified, it was still better than being blown to pieces by the upcoming explosion.

Suddenly, an abrupt wind hit them in the face. It chased most of the smoke away, and for a second, the bare, frozen tundra ground could be seen. Elian raised his head, but the hasty glow of the sun pierced his eyes, forcing him to look away from the cause of the wind.

However, Eli immediately noticed a being approaching them. He instinctively tried to read this being's mind, but was only received with complete emptiness, much like Eloise's mind right now. He couldn't read this person's thoughts? Was this 'person' even human? It sure didn't look like it.

After Elian's eyes adjusted to the brightness, a silhouette of a flying angel stood before them, except the angel wasn't sporting it's usual feathery wings, but rather metallic ones that glimmered in the sunlight. Then, upon closer inspection, Elian noticed that the 'angel' was but a teen his age, perhaps even younger than him.

Eli nudged him in the side. "Be careful, I can't read his thoughts," said Eli.

Elian's eyebrows creased. What did Eli mean he couldn't read this person's thoughts?

Eli abruptly answered, "Either he's dead or he's not human. His mind is completely empty, like Eloise."

"Are you sure?" asked Elian, whispering.

"Positive."

There was no mistaking it. That was Eloise, lying on the man's arms. Her pink hair was all messy and one of her arms flailed out helplessly at her side. Dark Sun even forgot all about his wings. He had totally forgotten about them while worrying for Eloise. As he tried to approach the trio, one of the men got out his throwing knives and the other put Eloise down, then reached for his twin energy swords.

"What do you want?" came one man's voice.

Dark Sun answered honestly. "Eloise," he said.

"How do you know her name? Are you an acquaintance of her's?" questioned the same man, wiping away some flicks of his red hair.

Dark Sun was about to answer yes, except suddenly he noticed that the man's hair wasn't the only thing that was red. Eloise's chest was covered with blood. Running directly past the man's twin energy swords, Daren knelt by Eloise's side.

"What happened to her?" he desperately asked.

Elian's eyes grew wide. The 'angel' was there a second ago, yet with astonishing speed dared to push past him. Turning around, he attacked the winged teen, and his energy swords easily swiped off a few steel feathers.

Dark Sun grabbed Eloise and jumped back. He can't fight, not while holding Eloise. Desperately, he pleaded, "Stop! I'm not going to attack her!"

Elian ran towards Dark Sun, closely followed by Eli. "How can we trust you? Put Eloise down right now! Or don't say I didn't warn you!"

Following Elian's instructions, Dark Sun did put Eloise down, but as a defensive measure surrounded himself and Eloise with his steel wings as protection.

Elian stopped. Eli did as well. Just who was this teen?

Once Dark Sun got a closer look at Eloise, all he could see was blood. He couldn't even tell what sort of wound it was. He tried ripping away some of her clothes to see the damage, and successfully found a bullet hole mere inches from her heart.

Elian screamed, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" and tried to hack away at Dark Sun's wings, only giving him limited success.

Dark Sun shouted back, "No time to talk!" Upon closer inspection, his microchip deemed that Eloise still had a pulse, although it was really soft. However, the microchip was also sure that she would probably die of blood loss in less than 5 minutes.

With a ferocious flap of his wings, he pushed Elian and Eli back, forcing the two to take a few steps away.

"Do you guys have a firefly yet?" asked Dark Sun.

"What does that have to do with you?" growled Elian, "Get your hands off of her!"

"I asked if you guys have a firefly! Do you have one?" shouted Dark Sun, who was very near the end of his patience.

Elian was stunned. This teen did indeed step away from Eloise, but he couldn't trust him yet. However, something in the teen's eyes did make Elian tell the truth.

"No, we don't have one yet."

Eli nudged him, and whispered, "Why are you telling him this?"

Elian had no good answer to give to his teammate, so he gave none. But for some reason, he knew that giving the truth was the right answer.

Dark Sun only nodded, and reached for his pocket. From it, he took out a silver ball of light, and handed it to Elian. Elian was dumbfounded. This was... It was a firefly!

Eli finally spoke up. "What are you doing?" he asked the teen.

Dark Sun replied, "I'm giving it to you.

* * *

><p>"Grandpappy!" shouted a girl from across the room.<p>

A familiar voice replied, "What is it?"

"Grandpappy! Someone's trying to break the rules again!"

"Disqualify them my dear. Do it like I taught you." answered the voice, "Grandpappy's gonna go to a car exhibition right now, so you can tell me the details later, alright?"

The girl whined. "But Grandpappy! He's so cool! I can't disqualify him! Tell me what I should do!"

The voice sighed, and shook off his brand-new Italian shoes. Getting his granddaughter to take care of the simulation had been a mistake on his part. He hurried over to the simulation control room. If he could get this over with now, he still wouldn't be late to the car exhibition. Using Elian's VIP ticket of course.

As he opened the door, the principal of Yelan Academy followed his granddaughter's finger to the big, middle screen. It showed two of his three favorite members of the Elite combat section talking to a... Was that an angel?

The principal took a seat next to his granddaughter and stared at the figure in the screens. Who was that? Those wings were definitely not on the weapons list for students.

"Isn't he cool?" said the girl, hands over her heart, "I was really hoping he would win, but all of a sudden he wants to give his firefly to big brother Elian's team!"

Looking over to the left screen, which displayed the time left till the final explosion, even the principal's heart started beating an extra beat. Why was his Elite combat section still here with only 1 minute and 3 seconds left on the clock?

"Elian's team still hasn't gotten a firefly yet?"

His granddaughter sadly shook her head. "But they can't accept Dark Sun's firefly unless they kill him! And I don't want them to fight!"

The principal shockingly stood up and looked at his granddaughter. "Is Dark Sun that boy's name?" he asked, pointing at the winged figure.

"Yep! That's the username he registered for the simulation."

After a short pause, the principal sat down onto his chair. Every second he was wasting was going to cost Elian, Eloise and Eli. He didn't know who this 'Dark Sun' was yet, but he swore he would get to the bottom of it. As for now, he had to help his Elite Combat Section, or their hard-earned reputation would be ruined.

"Make an exception for them."

"Wow really?" said his granddaughter excitedly, "So big brother Elian can take Dark Sun's firefly without fighting each other?"

The principal's face was grim. He had a personal rule of no tolerance when it came to rule breaking, but the Elite Combat Section was going to be crucial to Stage 3. He can't let any of them die in this stage.

"Yes, but that would leave Dark Sun without a firefly," grumbled the principal. After a brief look at his watch, he almost stumbled backwards. He had only 5 minutes to get to the car exhibition! He was going to be late, late, LATE!

"Well then, no time to talk, Grandpappy's gotta attend that car exhibition now. You make sure that Elian gets the firefly, alright? Bye dear!" shouted out the principal.

"But what about Dark Sun?"

"He can fend for himself. Now you don't make any unnecessary changes alright? Just leave the simulation until I get back home."

"Yes Grandpappy..."

* * *

><p>Elian pushed back the teen's gift, eyes filled with disapproval. "Don't. We don't need it."<p>

Dark Sun in turn forcefully grabbed Elian's arm and shoved the firefly in his hand. "How can you guys not need it? Look at Eloise!" shouted the silver haired teen, "How can you guys leave her like that? You need this firefly. You need it!"

Eli shoved Dark Sun away from his teammate. "Don't you understand? We can't just take it from you. We have to kill you for the firefly to register us as it's owner!"

This had been the first time for Dark Sun to lose his cool like that. He even forgot about the instructions at the beginning of stage. Covering his face with one hand, he remained silent for a moment. Looks like he'd have to hack into the simulation's database and make some few changes. But there was less than one minute on the clock now. Would he have enough time?

Elian gasped, causing Eli to turn back in surprise. A mechanical 'Ding' sounded, and Dark Sun's name disappeared, replaced by Elian, Eli, and Eloise's name. The firefly had re-registered it's owner! The two teammates looked at each other, then looked at their company, the latter whom was still silent, as if in deep focus.

Swallowing his pride, Elian burst out, "Alright! I don't care how you did it, but we got the firefly!"

Dark Sun turned around in surprise. "Really?" He hadn't even hacked into the database yet, but the firefly still somehow bent the rules?

Elian looked away, tensing his fists. This was first time he had to bow his head to anyone. "Thank you," he whispered to the teen under his breath.

A satisfied smile spread on Dark Sun's mouth. "And your welcome," he replied, "The portal is off to the south, so start running there as fast as you can. You have exactly 43 seconds left."

Eli nodded, while Elian bent down to lift up Eloise. 43 seconds was enough for them to reach the portal. But what about their company?

As Dark Sun was about to lift off, Eli grabbed his shoulder, and asked, "What about you? You don't happen to have another spare firefly right?"

Dark Sun shrugged off Eli's hand. "Don't worry about me. Just get to the next stage."

After a few flaps of his metallic wings, the silver haired teen disappeared into the smoke. Elian had one last thing to ask before they began running for their lives.

"What's your name?"

From across the distance, a cold voice answered them.

"Dark Sun."

* * *

><p>A blur of silver flew above the mass of smoke. Skimming across the expanse of pink, Dark Sun finally came to the conclusion that he was going to run out of time. Every second he wasted was crucial, yet no silver glows appeared. Could it be? Did all the fireflies really get taken away?<p>

Suddenly, Dark Sun pivoted dangerously to the right. His right wing was injured from Eloise's energy swords, and has now lost the balance needed to fly in a straight line. Like a lost bird, the silver haired teen resorted to flying in large curves instead.

* * *

><p>"Aww! Look at him! He has no hope now! All the fireflies are gone!" cried a young girl sitting across a computer screen, watching this so-called 'Dark Sun's movements.<p>

On the left screen, the timer was counting down. Only 30 seconds left, 29, 28, 27...

The girl was in absolute agony. She couldn't let her newly found idol die like this! He'd done nothing wrong. He was only trying to help big brother Elian! Yet Grandpappy had told her not to mess around with the simulation.

Abruptly, the Dark Sun on the screen fell from the sky. This caused the little girl to gasp and hold her breath. Any normal person would have died falling from that height.

After a few seconds, the camera focused, and Dark Sun once again appeared on screen. The steel wings all but disappeared, and he was only lying on the ground, not moving a muscle. Blood was everywhere and one of his arms were bent at an awkward angle. However, he still managed to get up, and continued walking through the smoke.

The little girl almost cried. In a flurry of tapping, she typed in the complex password to the simulation and hacked into her Grandpappy's database. She had to turn down all the firewalls and protective softwares her Grandpappy set up in less than 5 seconds. A blur of fingers worked it's way through on the keyboard. She was going to help Dark Sun, and give him a chance to survive.

* * *

><p>'<em>Energy level: less than 20%'<em>

Dark Sun cursed. His wings had long since lost the energy to materialize. Now he was left to run in the smoke, searching for any fireflies.

A silver glow appeared, not far away. Dark Sun's eyes were filled with hope. He started sprinting towards his target.

It was a firefly! The silver haired teen held the bug in his hands, and waited for a 'Ding'. It didn't come. Then again, this firefly did look different from the one he got at the beginning of the stage.

His microchip pounded out a warning in his head. Less than 10 seconds was left! Dark Sun didn't even bother to take a second glance at his ticket before putting away in his vest pocket. He would just have to hope this firefly was good enough. Sprinting as fast he could, he headed for the portal, all the while his microchip was counting down to his doom.

5...

4...

3...

2...

...


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

A quiet boom came from a few miles away, and for the quarter of a second, everything was muted. Dark Sun whipped his head back in confusion, until a white hot flash of heat burned instantly onto his back, and with gritted teeth, was pushed forward by an enormous blast of wind. In an instant, all sensory connections were lost, and the microchip fell into a deep silence.

* * *

><p>Hands across his chest, Ezart looked around a room filled with people holding various weapons, each wearing a respective white mask. His own mask seemed fixed upon his face, much to his personal irritation, and growled impatiently. Tensing his fists, Ezart was just itching for the Third Stage to start. He could tell he wasn't the only one either, as the thirteen participants grew more restless with each passing second.<p>

A girl's voice spoke from the walls.

"Welcome to the Third Stage of today's competition, the final Stage as directed by the Principal."

Ezart rolled his eyes, but any expression on his face was concealed by the mask.

"Among the thirteen students in this room, three are from the Elite Combat Section. The objective of the remaining ten students is to take down one member of the ECS."

Looking around the room, Ezart smirked. So that's what the masks were for. To hide the identity of ECS members. But then again, as he scanned the room one more time, his eyes picked up a bright flash of pink. He'd know that shade of pink anywhere. The latter was holding a round mace in each hand, facial expression hidden by the white mask.

"There are no other rules in this round. You may fight in any way you want, and teams are encouraged."

A stir rose among the participants.

A final, "Good luck", ended the brief message, but as Ezart turned his head back to where Eloise was standing a moment before, he found the place devoid of any human presence. In a hurry, he looked around quickly, finding that his target had already moved to the other side of the room, right in a battle with another student. The split second later, Ezart could have sworn he saw two other people immediately spread out to engage in battle. But it was also at this time that the rest of the participants decided to rush into combat as well. Ezart understood why, being a student of Yelan Academy, their first response was to fight first and think of strategies later.

With a loud laugh, Ezart felt the adrenaline of combat rush through him, and readily jumped into the midst of the chaos. Finding the princess can come later, but for now it was satisfying enough to just enjoy the chase of battle.

But this was the remaining 10 students of the entire academy who could last throughout the first and second Stages that the sadistic principal created. It wouldn't surprise Ezart if they were all Class A students. Shain would've been here too, and Ezart winced at the thought. He took out his anger on a nearby student wielding twin energy swords.

His fist fell upon thin air, and looking up in surprise, Ezart found that the masked red-haired man evaded his attack, and was rushing towards him with a counter. The furious swishing of the energy swords forced Ezart to step back several steps, struggling to keep his distance from the onslaught. He knew his armor would melt like pudding under those blades, and his only chance against these fast, accurate types was to look for an opening. But he had to admit, that this opponent was definitely quicker than Shain, which made the chance for a counter so much more difficult.

Bam!

"Damn it!" cursed Ezart. He was retreating too fast and forgot to look behind. With his back up against the wall, an energy sword pierced into his shoulder, paralyzing the left arm. In a heave of pain, Ezart kicked his opponent back several feet and analyzed the wound. As with all energy swords, the cut was small but precise, and no access skin was harmed. The weapon could almost be used to perform surgery operations! But the aim was decisive, and pierced the shoulder joint that left the arm useless. And being a close combat type, waving punches was Ezart's main form of attack.

Ezart stretched his neck, and laughed. This was fun! Defensive doesn't work, so how about offensive? Running towards the red haired man, Ezart aimed a punch at his face, but feinted away as the latter crossed his swords together to block. Instead, he grabbed the opponent's wrist, and twisted as hard as he could, and kicked at the knees. The latter dropped to the ground from the loss of support, but refused to drop the energy sword. With a quick snap, Ezart in turn simply broke his opponent's wrist, forcing the latter to have the same handicap as himself.

But as he did this, the red haired man thrust the other sword across Ezart's right rib-cage, causing a deep, uneven wound. He even took over Ezart's momentum and stabbed him in a whirlwind of decisive strokes. Only a quarter of these were dodged by Ezart, and even then, cuts were made. The sturdy, powerful boy had no choice but to tough out this attack, leaving himself with a dangerous number of wounds at the end.

At the final stroke, Ezart saw the now lone energy sword make its way to his neck, and instinctively ducked down as fast as he could, but not without losing a couple strands of hair. Seeing his chance, Ezart reached for his opponent's leg and altogether heaved the man up, swung him around a few times, and threw him onto the wall.

A loud, dull thump was heard, and an incredibly big indent was made in the place where the red haired man had landed. A few seconds later, a body slumped forward, lying dazed on the ground. Before he could check to see if his opponent was really dead, Ezart turned his head around and saw two small daggers fly by where his head had been a moment ago. A green haired man appeared from behind him, and a flurry of blades were thrown in his direction, some almost piercing fatal areas. No matter how he dodged, Ezart was unable to rid himself of the blades. It was as if this new opponent could read his mind and know where he was going to dodge next.

"HAHAHAHA!" laughed Ezart, who had stopped dodging and instead ran straight towards his opponent. This was new! Both this man and the last one! They were all better than the usual people! As his mind raced to live in the fervour of battle, he ignored all the incoming pain from new wounds, and raced forward like a mad beast hungry for prey. He could imagine ripping his enemy to shreds, and probably would have done so had it not been for the sudden hit to the head from behind. In a cloud of haze, Ezart fell to the ground, head dizzy from the impact. From the corner of his eye he caught a flash of pink.

"Ha. You got me there, princess," murmured Ezart, fighting hard not to fall unconscious. He scanned the room for anything that might help his current situation, and it was at this point that he noticed a very strange individual.

'He' definitely wasn't here when the Stage started, and yet 'he' was the only one not wearing a white mask. But to replace the usual white mask, half of his face was covered in burns and his expression was shielded by a silver visor. The rest of his body showed only that of a horror movie's nightmare. His entire body was shaded into a deep red, as his skin, clothes, and blood mixed together to create a potent image. The only contrast was the man's sleek, silver hair. By all means, this person should not be be alive, let alone move as quick as lightning while he assaulted the green haired man from behind.

"Eli!" came a girl's panicked voice over Ezart.

As Ezart noted Eloise running past him, his gaze moved over back to the new individual. Both of his arms seemed to be shifted in an awkward angle, as if it moved out of place and someone carelessly shoved it back. But that didn't seem to affect his movements, or even his attacks, as he jumped back and forth between Eloise and Eli, landing near fatal attacks on both. Ezart squinted to get a better glimpse of the fight, hoping to catch something significant about this person, but his head pounded violently and threatened to explode any second.

But just before complete darkness fell, Ezart's eyes refocused and widened. A blur of silver above a sea of red was all he could make out at this point, for the other participants in the room noticed the abnormal individual as well and must have all came up with the same conclusion. That he must be a member of the ECS. And with that, the expressionless man became the target of every person in the room.

"Ugh," grunted Ezart, as he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the throbbing in his head. There was no way, no way that he would allow himself to fall unconscious at a fight like this.

A sharp clatter rang beside his ear, and Ezart opened his eyes to see a masked man drop down to the ground, officially out for the count. A long sword lay beside him, and Ezart struggled to stretch out his good arm to reach for the sword. Wrapping his fingers across the handle and with one swift movement, he stabbed himself in the leg with the weapon. The pain was enough to shock himself awake, and he quickly pulled out the sword. Ignoring the bleeding, Ezart managed to get up and stumble into the mob. Even if it kills him, he was going to get a chance to fight this bloody, silver haired man.

As he struggled into the centre of chaos, the first thing Ezart noticed was the missing Eloise and Eli, who mysteriously disappeared from this free-for-all, and the second was that even with the onslaught of 8 A class members, this new person seemed to show no sign of struggle, or even a hint of discomfort at his own injuries.

The silver visor on the man's face shined with the sheen of blood, and Ezart wondered if they were even his own, or from the wounds of his enemies. From the quick and decisive strikes, Ezart could also tell that this man found killing quite effortless and maybe a bit enjoyable, like a child playing with a toy. Every few seconds, a new body would be left lying lifeless on the ground, and in a matter of minutes, the only ones left in the havoc was himself and his silver haired target. Unable to contain his own excitement, the hot-blooded teenager rushed out to face this 'devil in red', despite his own deadly injuries.

Right Punch. Block. Dodge. Turn to left, punch. Dodge. Counter kick, dodge. Block. Punch.

All of his attacks were evaded. All of them. Even Shain wasn't able to come off unscathed in this violent hammering of close combat attacks. And yet Ezart found himself having to back up every time his opponent countered, and how fast his opponent was! Quicker than Shain! Quicker than the energy sword wielder! The quickest he ever faced! This leads him to wonder: Why wasn't the man landing any fatal blows on him? He would've been dead by now if the man wanted him dead.

Then a blow from the left came too fast for Ezart to dodge, and the latter could only grimace and prepare for the pain afterwards, but it never came. From the corner of his eye, he saw his opponent's left hand hold a white mask, and stared confusingly into the blood silver visor, looking for an answer.

"Guh!"

Ezart spewed out blood as a solid punch landed right in his stomach. The impact made him fly several meters away, knocking over an unsuspecting Eloise and Eli. As he looked at the pair's shocked eyes, Ezart reached for his own face and realized that his mask was gone, and his identity was exposed.

"Haha," Ezart laughed, despite choking on his own blood afterwards, and turned to face his silver haired opponent. "Since you know who I am now, won't you show your true face as well?"

Having greeted by silence, Ezart was about to rush into battle again, until a girl's pale yet strong hand pushed him back, causing him to stumble backwards. He saw the masked Eloise and Eli jump into combat instead, maces and daggers raised.

As Ezart sat there, trying to get his breath back, he watched the battle unfold in front of him with utmost interest. Even if it was Eloise, the princess from ECS, and the mind-reading Eli, the silver haired man was still on par with them, if not better. Finally after five solid hits, the expressionless man took off the pair's mask and started to make his final attack, one that Ezart was sure could kill Eloise and Eli immediately. Ezart expected that bloody blow to hit, but the arm that was about to bring death stopped, and Ezart couldn't understand why. Both Eloise and Eli were on the ground, too battered to dodge or evade, but the silver haired man just stood there like a statue, looking at Eloise.

It was at this time that Ezart noticed Eli take out a small dagger, and throw it at his opponent's neck. With one loud shout, Ezart warned the statue to dodge, but the movement came too late, and a burst of blood flew out of the silver haired man's neck. Jumping to his feet, Ezart rushed over to where Eloise was, and aimed a direct hit at her chest that killed her instantly. The last thing Eloise did was look at Ezart in shock as she dropped the mace that was about to smash her opponent's head, as a trickle of blood dripped down her mouth.

At the same time, the silver haired man lifted Eli by the neck, and blocked off his airway. But being already gravely hurt, Eli couldn't struggle against the death grip of his opponent, and his eyes widened before he died as well, wondering how in the world a man with his jugular cut was still able to to perform such strenuous tasks.

'Eloise! Eli! No!" came a desperate voice several meters away, from a masked red haired man, who Ezart recognized as his first opponent, the wielder of the twin energy swords. And yet, the last thing Ezart saw before the simulation cut him off, was the devil, dressed in an deep shade of crimson, reaching its hand out towards him.

"Congratulations. Simulation completed."

* * *

><p>Ezart opened his eyes.<p>

Where was he? Who's hand was that? A throbbing pain came from his head, and Ezart covered his face in his hands in frustration. "Argh."

That... man in red. With silver hair. Just who, no what was he?

After stepping out of the simulation machine, he expected to be mobbed by people who died earlier in the simulation just waiting to see who the final winner was. But he was instead greeted by silence and emptiness. Oh wait.

A wrinkly old man sat impatiently in a drawn up chair in front of him, arms crossed.

"Finally. I was wondering why you were taking so long."

Ezart's eyebrows twisted in frustration. He couldn't think this wrinkly old man could get any more familiar. He saw the projection every time he entered the simulation. Its just that he had always expected the projection image to be fake, but now that the real person was here, there was no mistaking it. He was meeting Antonias, Yelan Academy's principal for the first time.

Now that he was looking at the miniature dwarf of a principal, Ezart felt nothing but annoyance. He could already guess what this was about.

Click.

The sound of a simulation door opening came from behind Ezart, and Antonias poked his face out from behind the tall giant in curiosity.

Ezart's eyes widened. It couldn't be. How could he have forgotten?

That brat. The silver hair. It all made sense now. Even without all the blood and gore, Ezart could still recognize him. Mentally banging his head on the wall, he cursed at himself for not realizing it sooner. The devil in red, was the brat that broke his desk this morning?

"Ah, welcome! My name is Antonias," said the principal in the most sweetest voice an old man can conjure. It made Ezart want to punch something. "Welcome to Yelan Academy. I'm sorry that as the principal of this school I was not able to give you a grand tour of the school earlier, Daren Avery."

That got Ezart's attention. Daren Avery?

The silver haired boy's face showed no sign that he registered the welcome, but remained cold and expressionless as he replied, "It's alright. I had someone else show me around school."

Antonias' smile twitched. Who would dare show a D-class student around? "Well as long as you won't get lost its fine. Now then," he cheerfully exclaimed, "I need you guys to come to my office. I have a slight matter I would like to discuss with you two-"

"Wait!" roared Ezart, making the principal jump, "I still have a score to settle with you!" And he reached out an arm to grab the brat's collar.

Antonias watched as the new student, Daren Avery, expertly dodge the mad beast's arm with a swift retaliation. It had seemed that his early departure from the car exhibition wasn't all a waste. But part of the principal's heart still ached when he thought of the cars and pretty ladies he didn't get to see. Oh what a shame. But back on topic!

"STOP IT!"

Two teenage boys continued throwing punches at each other.

"STOP IT NOW."

No one listened.

"I HAVE FOOD!"

Both faces turned around to look at him skeptically, wondering if the previous statement by the sketchy principal was true.

"I do have food!" added Antonias. "Come with me to my office and we can feast while discussing some matters."

Ezart rolled his eyes. He knew what the principal wanted, and he wasn't sure that the whole ordeal was going to be worth a free meal.

Antonias eagerly saw himself acquire both teenage boys' attention. It seemed like Daren was especially interested in his offer. Oh of course. Boys and their food. The principal evilly laughed to himself.

"I'll call my best chef to make something now, and its free! So follow me. Come on!"

Ezart glared at the silver haired brat, but the latter's glare wasn't half bad either. It was like drowning in a sea of ice that had no currents. The brat's face still didn't show a sign of expression. Ezart wondered if there was something wrong with the boy's facial muscles. But the brat did interest him a lot. He was strong. And Ezart knew, no matter how much he hated to admit it, that he was stronger than himself.

"Ha!" laughed Ezart, finally smiling towards his new opponent, "You're not half bad."

Ezart watched as the brat turned his head slightly and smirked, "You're just too weak."

"You're a gutsy brat aren't you?"

"A stronger brat than you."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself yet."

"I just expected more from you."

"You really wanna go and see heaven early, huh?"

"I would like to see you try."

"Haha! Not bad," exclaimed Ezart, satisfied that he got the silent brat to talk and even smile sarcastically. He'll consider it a good day's work for now.

"Boys. The food might be getting cold," warned Antonias.

Ezart was taken by surprise as the brat took a step in front of him and followed the principal. Whatever happened to the sarcastic voice a few seconds earlier? Sighing, Ezart could only follow along the principal's plans for now. It's always going to be the same answer in the end. Can't that stubborn principal take a hint?

* * *

><p>Hi guys. I was off in the big wide world doing real life things. I won't bore you with my daily routines and my procrastination issues. For now, just enjoy. :)<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

A huge pile of food was in his way, blocking his view. Not that he wanted to look at Antonias' overly wrinkled face at all, of course. But he would've been lying if he didn't feel a bit surprised at the sight in front of him.

Ezart was looking at Daren's excessive and growing amount of food with those exact thoughts as Antonias cheerfully skipped over to the two. Ezart eyed the principal. There was something making this old geezer unusually happy today. And he could be sure that it wasn't something good.

"How're you enjoying the buffet, Daren?" inquired the principal, "I had my best chef, Monsieur Rondo, make it on the spot. I do hope its suited to your tastes."

Dark Sun stopped a minute from his feasting. "My compliments to the chef then. His food is delicious as always."

Antonias raised his eyebrow in a questioning glance. Needless to say, Monsieur Rondo only cooked for the ECS. But this new student said that like as if he's tasted the food before.

"And won't you have anything, Ezart? There's enough for both of you."

Legs on the principal's desk, Ezart impatiently replied, "I won't eat anything from you, old geezer. And I already know what you want to ask me. My answer is still no."

Antonias pouted, making Ezart wince with disgust. "But I didn't even ask you anything yet! At least let me say what I was going to say."

Making his way to his desk, Antonias ignored Ezart's feet propped on his mahogany desk, and explained, "I hope you two had fun with the simulation game today. Now if you can recall, the rules did state that whoever won would receive a wonderful prize, right?"

No one was listening to his speeches, as always, but the principal continued. "I had only intended there to be one winner, if there was going to be one at all. And that was because I thought the only person in this entire school who could have the chance to fight on par with my ECS trio was Ezart."

A 'hmph' of satisfaction came from the proud boy.

"But I had never expected, in my wildest dreams, that my entire ECS trio be defeated. In fact, I had never really expected you to win, Ezart. I only intended for my trio to test your abilities and see if you were a good candidate. After all, my ECS students have all gone through life-threatening missions and have never failed to impress me with their results. This is, I'm surprised to say, their first loss."

Ezart's face soured again, but not without noticing the silver haired boy beside him slow down his eating, as if to pay attention.

"But I won't be all grouchy about it. I'm a good sport. After all, this just means that I have more candidates to join my ECS!"

Dark Sun slammed his fork on the table.

"I am not joining ECS."

Antonias' face darkened immediately. "And why not? Joining the Elite Combat Section is a privilege that all students entering Yelan Academy dream of, and yet less than 1% of them get to reach! Not to mention you get tons more advantages in school, such as-"

The silver haired boy grimaced and shoved his chair back, preparing to leave.

"I am 'not' joining the ECS."

"Wait, Daren! Can't we talk this over-" Brriiinnnngggg Brrrriiinnnggg

The principal's phone suddenly rang, stopping Dark Sun from replying.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Eloise. This is really not a good time... I know you want explanations... Okay, I know you're upset. But stop shouting in my ear!"

Ezart curiously noticed Dark Sun's ears perk up at hearing Eloise's voice over the phone. The silver haired boy even seemed to be listening in on the conversation.

"Oh please, no. You can't come now, I'm in a meeting! Yes, its an important meeting. Well, I'm here with Ezart and Da-"

Antonias' eyes widened as a swift hand grabbed the phone from his ear and threw it on the ground. That was fast. Faster than any of his current ECS members. His eyes moved over to the new student standing mere inches in front of him.

Dark Sun sighed with relief. That was close. Eloise had almost found out that he was meeting with the principal.

"-Hello? Principal? What happened? Did you mention someone else? Hello-"

A swift foot from Dark Sun crushed the phone to itty-bitty pieces.

Antonias sighed. "What did you do that for?"

"I have my reasons."

The frustrated principal rolled his eyes and sat back on his chair. What happened to this 'Daren's' cool and icy composure from a while ago? His emotions were like a bumpy roller coaster.

"But now that you're back, any chance you want to sign up for being an ECS member?" asked Antonias expectantly.

"Not a chance. I only serve one person."

A raised eyebrow came from the old principal's face, as he thought of a plan.

"Ezart, give me your phone."

"Why?"

"Just give it to me," commanded the principal.

Ezart reluctantly reached for his phone and suspiciously handed it over to Antonias.

The principal calmly dialed a number, ignoring the growing coldness of Daren's glare.

"Hello? Eloise?"

Dark Sun was so very close to reaching over and giving the old man a beating, had Ezart not lifted up a hand to stop him. Antonias' mouth edged upwards in a devilish smirk.

"Why, I'm very sorry for the sudden disruption back there. You know, old man problems. My hand slipped."

The principal's eyes signaled to Daren a sign of understanding. Dark Sun grimaced.

"But hold on for a sec. I need you to stay on the line. Don't hang up, alright? I'll be back in a minute."

Pressing the hold button on Ezart's phone, Antonias smiled calmly. "Now then, Daren. Want to reconsider my offer?"

Dark Sun hesitated, but still replied, "No."

"I could very easily tell Eloise about your secret."

"How would that benefit you?"

"Oh, in no way would it benefit me," admitted the principal, "But I'm guessing that Eloise won't be very 'happy' to hear that the person who killed her, who made her feel the first pain of loss, was you."

Clenching his teeth in anger, Dark Sun replied, "You will regret threatening me like this."

"Oh will I?" said Antonias as he reached for Ezart's phone again. "Hello? Eloise? Well look, there's someone I wanted to talk to you about. You see-"

Dark Sun hurriedly slammed his hands on the table. "Stop. Now."

"You see, you know the person who you were fighting in the last round of the simulation? The one covered with blood? Well I can tell you who he is. He's-"

"Stop. Just stop. Fine!"

"He's-"

"I'll accept your offer!" shouted Dark Sun angrily.

Antonias smiled satisfyingly. "Oh wait. Something came up. I'll call you back Eloise."

Ezart glanced over to the silver haired boy breathing heavily with anger beside him. The old principal had guts, he'll admit that. The person he's threatening just killed off his entire ECS party! And yet, the principal succeeded in his threats. There had to be a reason this old, wrinkly man was still the principal. His backhanded ways were quite well thought through.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?," said Antonias to Daren, "Really, you'll soon understand that it's way better to be in ECS than remain in D class." Taking out a big stack of documents from his desk, the old principal got out a pen and a sheet of paper, and sat back in his chair. "I haven't gone over the details of your obligations as an ECS member yet, right? Gosh, I keep getting too excited and forgetting the basics. Anyways, why don't you take a seat again and we'll discuss from here. Ezart, you listen too."

Ezart rolled his eyes.

"Being an ECS member, one is not required to go along with normal school curriculum and learn through a classroom. In fact, you can graduate without even having to take a single test! Heck, you won't need to step back into a classroom for the rest of your high school career!" Antonias chuckled, "All you have to do is fulfill 30 of my 'missions', and you can graduate from the ECS as one of its honorary members. With an ECS membership, you can join the military after graduating or be anything you like, involving combat of course. I promise with me backing you up, all ECS members are basically guaranteed any sort of future they want."

"No."

"No?" asked Antonias questioningly.

"I told you that I only serve one person. I won't allow anyone else to be in control of me." answered Dark Sun.

Antonias paused for a second. "I won't be in control of you. I'll just call you up from time to time if I need your help. Besides, through my missions, you can fight a lot of strong people."

Now Dark Sun was the one to hesitate. Antonias noted the pause and smiled, knowing he made a good bet. This new student was another power thirsty boy looking for fights.

"Two missions, that's all I'm going to agree to."

"No!" screamed Antonias, "I've never gone below 10 missions before! It wouldn't be fair!"

Dark Sun's fist slammed the desk again. "Don't talk to me about fairness!"

"8!"

"2."

"6?"

"2."

"Oh you're a good bargainer! 4?"

"2."

"You're heartless! 3! That's it! 3. That's the lowest I'm going to go." shouted Antonias defiantly.

Dark Sun glared coldly at the principal, eyeing Ezart's phone that was still in his hand. "Fine. Three."

Antonias shakes his head in despair, handing Dark Sun the pen and paper. "Quickly, sign it before I regret it."

"Wait, I still have a few things to put in place," said Dark Sun, pushing away the pen.

Narrowing his eyes, the principal said, "Go on."

"You must promise to never reveal my identity to Eloise. She must not know that I'm a member of ECS. Everything that happened today, including the simulation, is to be kept secret, shared to no one."

"I can do that."

"Next. I must have the free choice to decline any mission assigned to me. You can't force me to do anything, or the deal's off."

"Oh. You sly boy," muttered Antonias, "Fine, I agree."

"Lastly, you have to allow me to remain in D class."

The principal eyed Daren funnily. This was the first time someone asked him to keep them in D class, and not vice versa. "Sure, if you wish. Now are we good?"

Dark Sun grimly accepted the paper and signed his name down on the sheet.

Antonias literally grabbed the piece of paper from the new student, hoping that the latter won't regret anything later and turned his head over to Ezart.

"Now then, Ezart my boy, won't you reconsider joining ECS as well?"

The dragon on Ezart's face smiled. "Never. I'd rather hate being tied down. And you've got nothing to threaten me with either." Reaching for his phone, Ezart followed after the already leaving Daren, "But nice try, principal. Nice try.

* * *

><p>The chapters are getting shorter, I know. Forgive me guys, I'll get the other one out soon. And thanks for the reviews! :)<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

After closing the door behind him, Ezart ran up to the silver haired Dark Sun.

"Where are you going?"

Dark Sun continued walking without even turning his head to acknowledge the person beside him.

"Back to class."

"Why? Why go back to D Class when you're already an ECS member?"

The silver haired teen merely smiled, "Because I find you interesting."

Ezart raised his eyebrows. "You're the one today who suicidally brought a desk to sit next to me, right?"

"And why would that be suicidal?"

"Because any normal person would know that disrupting my sleep would make me really mad, and I tend not to hold back when I'm mad."

"Well then you should get used to being disrupted then," said Dark Sun with a coy smile.

Seeing this fearless response, the spiky, orange haired teen replied, "Maybe you should also remember that I am still quite mad about you breaking my desk this morning."

"I do remember."

"Hmph," snorted Ezart, half in frustration and half in sarcasm, "Then you'd better treat me to a free dinner as an apology."

This caused Dark Sun to abruptly stop, almost leading to a collision between the two teenagers. "A dinner?" repeated a bewildered silver haired teen.

"You bet. I have my eyes set on this newly opened barbecue shop a little way down the street. I'm going to order the whole menu, so be prepared to empty your wallet," said Ezart evilly.

"Right... Dinner. I almost forgot." murmured Dark Sun to himself.

"What's that?"

Dark Sun shrugged, "Why not? Come over to my house then. We'll have... Fried chicken, burgers, and fries. Barbecue sounds good too."

Ezart looked at the silver haired teen with shock and amazement. He had taken quite a interest in this boy, and he didn't really know why. Perhaps it was because of his fearlessness towards Ezart, or it may be because of his fighting potential. Whatever it was, Ezart knew he had found someone similar to himself, someone who could command his respect. Ezart was looking forward to the next time they got a chance to fight again. But thinking back on it, they had only just met, and the boy was already inviting him over to his house? Ezart couldn't help but feel as if Daren had some sort of secret intent behind all of this...

Suddenly, the orange haired teen noticed Dark Sun tensing up beside him.

"Oh I am so mad at that stupid old principal! He hung up on me again!"

"Yeah, I'll show him! Nobody steals my car exhibition tickets and gets away with it!"

"Calm down guys! There's someone in front of us!"

Three people walked around the corner of a hallway, and paused in time, as if statues. Ezart immediately noticed Eloise, with her pink hair, and also the green haired Eli who he had met in the simulation. The red haired man on the left was carrying twin energy swords, and Ezart realized he had indeed looked quite familiar, but he just couldn't remember the man's name.

The statues showed Eloise's mace in mid-swing, but her face full of shock. The red haired man had raised fists but also held the same facial expression. Only Eli, the one trying to calm his teammates, rolled his eyes upon seeing Ezart.

"Daren!" shouted Eloise, the first to break the awkward silence, and ran up to the silver haired teen, "What are you doing here?"

"Um. Uh. I was- I was..." answered Dark Sun, hurrying to find an excuse. He knew that this hallway only led to the principal's office, and he really didn't want Eloise to know he just had a meeting with Antonias. Unknowingly, his eyes looked to Ezart for backup.

Ezart didn't miss a beat.

"You see, this little punk here admired me so much because I kicked his ass in today's simulation. After I came out of the meeting with the principal, I found him here waiting to invite me to dinner. And who am I to say no to free food? Haha!"

Dark Sun glared dangerously at the spiky, orange haired boy, but didn't say anything to object this tall tale. Ezart bit his own lip to keep himself from laughing.

Eloise on the other hand, looked terribly forlorn. With a pleading look, she asked Dark Sun, "Why did you ask Ezart of all people on a date? I thought- I thought-" With tensed fists, she pushed past the silver haired teen while shouting, "I misjudged you, Daren!"

"Wait!" implored Dark Sun, "It's not like that! It's a misunderstanding! Eloise!"

Meanwhile, Eli whispered to Elian, "Are you buying this?"

Elian softly laughed, "Not a bit. But let's just let this play out. It's Eloise's own fault for being so thick."

Ezart scratched his head, still trying to keep a poker face after seeing Eloise's reaction. Looking at the silver haired boy's distraught expression, it was all he could do not to burst out laughing.

"Well then," said Elian, cutting away the awkward silence, "Excuse us, but we'll need to go catch up to Eloise and calm her down now." With a curtly nod to Ezart, and a suspicious look towards Dark Sun, Elian and Eli passed by the two boys, and made their way to the principal's office.

After seeing the trio disappear around the turn of a hallway, Ezart burst out in laughter.

"Pffftt! Hahahahaha! Oh my god! Did you see her reaction? Oh my- Oh that was priceless! Haha!"

Ezart's stomach hurt so much from laughing, he had to kneel on the floor, one arm banging on the wall as he tried to stifle down his laughter. With one look, he took in the clueless look of Dark Sun and was sent into another round of laughter. This time he resorted to rolling around on the floor.

Dark Sun was indeed clueless. He blankly looked at Ezart's amused expression, the latter whom is still on the floor, clutching his belly. All he could think about was why Eloise was so mad. And date? What did she mean by date? Especially with Ezart?

Finally, after a few moments, Ezart stopped his laughing and panted, trying to catch his breath. "Oh my god that was brilliant. Haha!" He even wiped a few tears away from his eyes. That was really funny, especially with Eloise's reaction. God knows how she imagined the whole situation inside her head.

The silver haired teen was still standing there in shock, had it not been for Ezart's pull.

"Come on, slow brat! My stomach's growling!" complained the spiky, orange haired boy. The dragon on his face was still writhing with amusement, "I'm still expecting the fried chicken, burgers, and fries! With barbecue of course!"

Dark Sun's mind was still in shock as he allowed himself to be dragged around by Ezart. All he could think about was Eloise's angry expression. Had he done something wrong? Again? Sighing to himself, he realized once more, how difficult women could be to understand.

* * *

><p>Tap. Tap. Tap.<p>

Antonias tapped his pen profusely on his desk, one hand supporting his chin, and smiled to himself. He found someone quite interesting today. Oh yes. Quite interesting. Eyes drifting to the signature on the ECS consent sheet, the old principal couldn't help but feel the hint of proudness at securing such a valuable member to his organization. Daren Avery, or should he call him, Dark Sun? He pressed the play button on his laptop, and re-watched the scenes inside the simulation from earlier today. Scanning over the fight scenes, the silver haired boy was indeed merciless and cruel. Nodding with approval, Antonias drummed his fingers on the desk and fast forwarded the recording.

A blurry image of silver wings suddenly caught his attention, and the old principal scrambled to back track towards that scene. His security cameras weren't able to catch all of it, but those short few seconds showed a clear shot of metallic feathers that vibrated softly before flapping away towards the sky. Running his fingers over the keyboard, Antonias was unable to find any other cameras that picked up the angel's image, as it had already escaped the range of their shots. It won't be until a few minutes later that his ECS trio met up with the said angel, or rather, 'Dark Sun' from the angel's username.

"I'm giving it to you," came the recorded voice of the angel inside the recording, handing its firefly to Elian and Eli. The principal's eyes narrowed, thoughts moving back to the screen that held a dying Eloise, and a worried Dark Sun. Why would this young boy care so much for one his ECS members? But then again...

He skipped the recording over to the Third Stage of the simulation. A nightmarish, bloody, humanoid figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere, with username 'Dark Sun', that jumped into the midst of the chaos. The old principal's eyes watched like a hawk as he observed the devil defeat all the A class members with ease, until confronted by Ezart. And even then, the spiky, orange haired boy was forced to retreat every time his enemy attacked. The devil in red then proceeded to take off Ezart's mask, and hesitated for a while before making his move. But when he did attack, Ezart had no chance to even retaliate.

"A real devil..." murmured Antonias to himself. Out to fight next was Eli and Eloise, both holding their respective weapons and at top combative positions. The two managed to hold their own for a short while, but it was clear that their enemy wasn't using his real power. With one swift movement, Dark Sun managed to pull off both ECS members' masks, and saw their true identity.

Now the old principal would've originally been quite worried had any bystanders been there to see this scene. His secrecy of the ECS members would have been left out in to the open. But at that point of the game, no one was left in the simulation except for Ezart, Dark Sun and his ECS trio. Antonias sighed with relief, praising himself on the decision of not broadcasting today's simulation to the entire school. He knew that Ezart wasn't the type to blurt things out. So hopefully it was okay. Hopefully.

But there it was again! The lingering hesitation of the devil confused Antonias. He couldn't move, or didn't want to move, even as Eli drew a dagger from his pocket and threw it towards his jugular. Dark Sun remained as still as a statue looking at Eloise.

Why? Why Eloise?

The old principal paused the recording and focused one of his cameras onto Dark Sun's face.

Was that fear he saw? No. Shock? Surprise? Regret? No, that wasn't it either. No, it was moment of understanding.

For that one moment, the principal saw the devil's emotionless face change to show a sign of understanding and realization. But the same question repeated in his mind.

Why Eloise?

Of course, Dark Sun did slow down upon hearing Eloise's voice over the phone during their meeting, and he did seem quite intent on keeping his identity safe from Eloise, even if it meant joining ECS. Back then, Antonias had sensed something strange was afoot and used that to his advantage to threaten Dark Sun. But he still doesn't understand why the silver haired boy even spared a thought for a girl like Eloise.

And what did he understand? What did he realize at that moment?

Antonias crossed his fingers together in contemplation. If he remembered correctly, Eloise just broke up with her 15th boyfriend last month, wasn't it? That boy had been one of her longer partners, lasting for two weeks before running away like a puppy with its tail between its legs. It wasn't that Eloise was a sadistic, evil girl either, it was just that her personality was so much more different than a normal girl. Would a normal girl say hi to someone by waving her huge mace in someone's face? Would a normal girl express her love by hugging someone and breaking several of their bones?

The old principal laughed to himself when he thought of Eloise's life threatening hugs. She had a good heart, but the last time she tried to thank him, Antonias ended up in the hospital with two broken ribs. He was surprised he survived at all after that experience. He was an old man now, and old men just weren't as sturdy as they used to be. After that, Eloise was banned from hugging anyone, for the sake of others around her.

But Elian did always complain to him that Eloise would break that rule with her boyfriends, causing them to all run away with fear from her at the end. The result was a sulky, irritated Eloise that would throw the most horrible tantrums if frustrated. Antonias sighed. Eloise really was a pretty girl, she just had trouble controlling her power sometimes.

But Eloise would keep finding new boys, causing her two teammates much distress. It didn't surprise the principal that she might've chosen Dark Sun this time either. Antonias shook his head sadly, feeling quite sympathetic suddenly for the silver haired boy.

But back on topic. What was the special link between Dark Sun and Eloise? 'Daren' had only transferred here today, after all. It just doesn't make any sense.

"Grandpappy?"

Antonias raised his head in surprise. Where had she popped up from?

"Grandpappy, I'm sorry. Please don't get mad. Please," came a young girl's trembling voice from behind one of his sofas.

"Come on, Hawthorne. Get out of there," soothed the old principal, finally getting out of his desk and extended his two hands, "Come on, grandpappy's not mad."

"No. What if grandpappy was mad and left me in that scary truck again?" cried the young girl, on the brink of tears this time.

Sighing, Antonias was forced to kneel down to comfort his granddaughter . "I resent that, Hawthorne. That wasn't on purpose, you know that. Now come on. Grandpappy's really not mad, but grandpappy's back will be sore tomorrow if you don't come out of there!"

"Wah! I'm sorry!" cried Hawthorne, jumping into her grandpappy's arms, "You really won't leave me in that scary truck again?"

"Of course not," soothed Antonias, "You'll never be alone again, alright? Now sh... Calm down, grandpappy's not mad."

Last time Hawthorne had gotten into an argument with Antonias, he was called to an emergency meeting with the principal of another school because D Class had barged into one of their classrooms and started a huge fight. Because of the urgency, Antonias didn't have time to make up with his granddaughter and rushed off to the meeting, leaving Hawthorne alone in her kindergarten. Apparently, Hawthorne thought he had abandoned her and hectically ran off before her teacher could find her. She found herself following an old man that looked like Antonias from the back, and when he saw him climb into a truck, she climbed into the back trunk as well. Some one closed the door and she was unable to get out in time. One hour later, when a tired Antonias finally came back to the kindergarten to take Hawthorne back home, the kindergarten teacher was searching everywhere, and was ready to call the police. In the heat of the moment, Antonias dialed up 5 of his ECS to search for his granddaughter, of whom included Eli, Elian and Eloise. It was a heart racing long wait, as millions of horrible images and consequences ran through Antonias' mind at once, blaming himself for leaving his only grandchild alone like that. An hour later, the principal got a call from Elian, explaining that they had captured the truck driver, and found Hawthorne safe in the back of the trunk. She was crying and making a lot of noise, which made the truck driver stop to check what was wrong. It was just when the truck driver decided to drive to the nearest police station that the ECS stopped his truck and was ready to have his life if Hawthorne had been hurt. In the end, Hawthorne returned safely, and fostered an exceptional love for her three saviors, but had also developed an extreme fear of the dark and cramped spaces.

Antonias sighed. She was only four at the time, but still for some reason believed that whole incident was caused by her grandpappy who was mad at her. Now whenever Antonias gets cross with her, Hawthorne would burst out in tears, blaming her grandpappy for that incident, and Antonias would have no choice but to shut up and calm his granddaughter down.

Sniff. Sniff. "Grandpappy, did you figure out who Dark Sun was at the end?" asked Hawthorne in a small voice.

"Mm, not really," answered the principal, "There's still quite a lot I haven't been able to figure out about him yet..."

"But grandpappy's not mad that I broke the rules and gave him a firefly, right?"

Antonias smiled, "Of course not my dear, I think I might even have to thank you. Because you allowed him to come to the Third Stage, I got to see many interesting things!"

Content now, Hawthorne also managed a smile, "Isn't he the coolest, grandpappy? He's going to be my future husband!"

The old principal winced. What was the little girl thinking? Dark Sun as his future grandson in law? Antonias shivered at the thought.

"Can I meet him sometime? Please?" asked Hawthorne.

"Absolutely not!" warned the principal in a stern voice, but immediately regretted it after seeing his granddaughter's scared reaction, "I mean, he- He's very busy everyday, and he rarely comes to my office. He- uh, and he already has a girlfriend!"

Hawthorne was shocked, "What? A girlfriend? Who?"

Antonias mentally banged his head against the wall. He was just digging himself into a deeper hole, wasn't he?

"Eloise! Dark Sun's girlfriend is Eloise!"

Hawthorne's mouth opened up wide. "Big sister Eloise is going out with Dark Sun?" After a short pause, she added, "Is Dark Sun going to end up in the hospital?"

Antonias smiled bitterly before replying. It seemed like Eloise's boy hunting ways have become known even to his granddaughter. But he had to keep this lie going! He really didn't want his Hawthorne to be idolizing, then perhaps marrying, an assassin.

"No, Dark Sun is going to be fine. But he's very dedicated to his girlfriend, and I'm sure he has no plans to be cheating on Eloise either."

Sighing, Hawthorne still wasn't ready to give up yet. But she did really like big sister Eloise. "Can't we share?"

The old principal firmly shook his head. "No. You may not share. Dark Sun is Eloise's boyfriend and that's that."

BANG!

The principal saw a huge piece of wood flying towards him and wasn't able to dodge in time. Oh that was going to bruise. But before he fainted, he did see his infamous ECS trio standing outside his office. Was it just him, or did all of them look quite mad? Eloise looked especially irritated, eyes watery with tears. With one foot still raised, she was undoubtedly the one who kicked down his door as well.

The pink haired girl marched in and declared, "Who's my boyfriend?"

* * *

><p>For those of you who have no idea who Hawthorne is, she is actually a character from No Hero, the sequel to Eclipse Hunter. Her Chinese name is 荆棘, which translates directly to thorns, or brambles. I decided Hawthorne sounded better, so there you go!<br>I had originally decided for her to be an OC, but thought against it in the end. She was so similar already to an existing character, so why force an OC into this? Of course, some things are going to be changed about her, but I hope her relationship with Dark Sun is going to remain the same. :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Yo, Daren. What time is it?" said Ezart, only managing to make out the words with a mouth full of barbecued chicken.

"8:35pm," came an equally mumbling mouth that was too busy chewing.

Ezart snorted and continued stuffing his face. He still had time.

Theodore sat off at the side of the dinner table, content to just close his eyes and droop his head to get some rest. He was dead tired. And he had a bad taste in his mouth. Literally. Ever since he fainted when he came out of the underground lab, he had been forced into one bad joke after another. Shaking his head, Theodore just wanted to go back and finish his experiments, or die trying. Yep. That's right. This was a marathon he still hasn't finished yet, and was content to go on until he collapsed of fatigue. But then Dark Sun came home. With a friend.

Perhaps Dark Sun really did call. But Theodore just doesn't remember. Perhaps he spilled some of that leftover soup on the phone when he fainted. He was lucky it didn't get on his skin. Or maybe it did. That would explain the rash on his left arm.

But what the clumsy scientist did remember, was Devon's friendly 'reminder' from this morning: _'Make Daren a good dinner. With plenty of healthy greens and meat. I might not be able to make it in time for dinner, but if you dare forget what I just told you, I will make __you __the entree to a guard dog's next meal.'_

Theodore had cooked before. A few times in his life. Alright, maybe once or twice. It was healthy, nutritious, and most importantly, easy to make. He prided himself on making the best instant noodles in a record breaking time of 30 seconds. It was his go-to food if he ever got off his lazy bum to go make it. But that never happens.

However, Theodore wanted to be responsible that morning. He will save his life by making instant noodles now, before he got down into his lab and who knows when he'll ever come out. He cracked 10 eggs and stuffed some greens from the refrigerator into the soup. Then came the soup base and finally the noodles. Theodore wiped his brow and sighed. He checked the timer: 28 seconds. Wow, that must be a new record.

Theodore got out two bowls, and gave himself some noodles, while leaving the rest for Dark Sun when he comes back from school. Having a sharp nose, he realized the noodles smelled a bit like coffee. Theodore shrugged. Must be a new flavour.

But down he disappeared into his rabbit hole with his noodles.

What happened inside the lab was the really blurry part. His brain's mostly on autopilot from then on. But after 8 hours of self starvation, Theodore decided to give the instant noodles a try. Bad idea. The soup didn't just smell like coffee. It was coffee. Cold and bitter. But still distinctly instant noodle flavoured. And that's not the worst of it. The noodles have already soaked up most of the soup, so now the noodles tasted disgusting as well. Trying not to throw up, Theodore took a deep breath and promptly fainted, spilling the bowl's content all over himself.

Shaking his head violently, Theodore shook himself awake from his recent nightmares and back to Dark Sun and his new friend, Ezart.

The two boys came home with tons and tons of barbecued meat, and settled down to eat. But not before Dark Sun ran down into the lab and found Theodore in his sorry state first. Face pale, with closed eyes, the half dead scientist somehow found himself clean and dressed on the dinner table. When Ezart first set eyes on Theodore, his first comment was, "Daren, you never said your old man did drugs!"

"Oh how nice, you brought back a friend!" laughed the light headed scientist in reply, ignoring Ezart's previous comment, "And he's seems strong too. How about you volunteer yourself as one of my test experiments? I've got a whole arsenal of things I wanted to try. I think you'll last longer than the others. Haha!"

Dark Sun rolled his eyes and made Theodore sit down on the chair.

"Is he always like this?" asked Ezart.

"I want to say no. But that would be lying." sighed Dark Sun, watching Theodore giggle to himself with his eyes still closed, but hands moving as if cutting apart a specimen with a scalpel.

Now back to the present. Theodore suddenly realized about the leftover noodles and jumped straight up.

"D-Daren! You didn't eat anything from the bowl on the counter, did you?"

Dark Sun widened his eyes. "You mean your experiment? Why would I eat that?"

"I thought it was noodles. It looked like noodles," commented Ezart.

Theodore sighed. "I put coffee in the soup. Force of habit, I guess. That made the instant noodles taste horrible. As long as you didn't eat it, its fine."

"Ha! I was right! It was noodles!"

Dark Sun rolled his eyes.

"Where's Devon?" asked Theodore, afraid he wouldn't have time to clean up all the evidence of his cooking failures.

"He still hasn't finished his meeting yet. Kyle called me about it beforehand," replied the silver haired teen, sipping Coke, "Apparently one of the members got a bit emotional because his company's shares was bought almost entirely by the Solaris Corporation."

The scientist nodded and sighed with relief. "Well then, I gotta go. You know, things to do. Places to see," reaching a hand towards Ezart, he continued, "It was nice meeting you Ezarp. I hope you come for dinner again-"

"It's Ezart."

"And you have nowhere to go but down to the lab."

"Well I-"

"At least bring some of the food with you. You know, coffee stains are so hard to wash out."

"..."

* * *

><p>"Your dad's funny," snickered Ezart, "I find it hard to believe that he's a real scientist."<p>

"Sometimes, me too."

The dragon eyes shined with amusement on the orange haired teen's face. "You know, most parents don't want their kids to hang out with me. I make the worst first impressions."

Still chewing on the last of the steak, Dark Sun asked, "Why?"

"Well, many reasons. Not that I would care, of course. I look 'different'. I act 'different'. I speak 'different'," paused Ezart, "...And why on earth am I explaining this to you?"

The silver haired teen merely replied, "But none of us are normal here."

Ezart laughed. "That, was the only thing you said today that made any bit of sense." Holding out his bottle of coke, he said, "Cheers?"

Dark Sun paused. What was that supposed to mean? What was he supposed to do? Ezart was expecting a reply, but his microchip sure wasn't giving him any answers.

"Are you just going to leave me hanging?"

"In what way are you hanging from anything?"

Ezart snorted impatiently. "Just raise your Coke bottle."

"Like this?"

The orange haired teen bumped his bottle with Dark Sun's. Then he promptly drained the last of pop in one go. After finishing his drink, he found Dark Sun with a really confused expression. He looked like a lost 5-year old boy. It made Ezart erupt in a loud fit of laughs.

"-Hahahaha!"

Dark Sun really was thoroughly confused, "Did I do something wrong?"

"Hahaha! Hoohoo, oh my god! Hahaha! You- Haha! You never cease to amuse me."

The silver haired teen remained speechless.

After a minute of continuous laughing, Ezart managed to get up, still chuckling, and got his jacket. "Well then, haha- I gotta go. Its almost nine. I still have my job to do."

Dark Sun got up as well. "Job?"

"Oh you know, just the usual. I need to eat too," replied Ezart, heading towards the door, "But thanks for the food. I'll see you tomorrow."

Dark Sun watched as the orange haired teen step through the door, still chuckling to himself. He still had no idea what he did wrong that caused Ezart to laugh like that. He made a mental note to ask Theodore sometime.

* * *

><p>"<em>You think he'll be alright?"<em>

"_The old man is tougher than he looks."_

"_Maybe I shouldn't have used the maces."_

"_I'm actually more concerned about Hawthorne's reaction. I hope we haven't scarred her for life."_

At hearing Hawthorne's name, Antonias woke up with a start. "I'm here! I'm here! Grandpappy is here!"

The members of the ECS trio jumped, except for Eli, who had already noticed their principal's wakening consciousness.

Antonias tried to rub his eyes. He had most terrible headache. A bump the size of a fist was forming on his forehead, the place where Eloise's piece of wood hit him when she kicked open the door. Wait a minute. Why was his arm and leg propped up with bandages? And why was he in a hospital?

The memory slowly came back to him. There were two devils who tied him up in a chair and started to torture him with attacks. One of them kept murmuring something about some car exhibition tickets, and the other about getting hung up on the phone. And boyfriends. Something about boyfriends. There was a third devil, who merely just stood there to watch his two accomplices do the deed, face as cold as ice.

Eli almost laughed listening to the old principal's thoughts. Almost. "He thinks we were devils."

Eloise 'hmphed'. "He deserved it!"

Elian added, "And that's what happens when you mess with my car exhibition tickets."

The old principal groaned. He was getting way too old for this. Sighing, he said, "Next time, ease back on the face. I still have to keep up appearances. Wouldn't want the school principal to be seen with matching black eyes."

"As if anyone would want to look at your face," retorted Eloise.

"As if you ever step outside your office anyways," followed Elian.

Eli remained silent.

Antonias rolled his eyes in frustration. If he was any younger, he would've beaten up these little kids to show them who's boss. Those were the good old days.

"But we do have to apologize, we didn't realize Hawthorne was in the room until after you fell unconscious," said Elian, "We hope she wasn't scarred. At least not that much."

"She grew up watching the battle simulators. Trust me, this wasn't even close to what she's seen," replied Antonias, "Now then, its great that I have all of you here. I have your next mission ready..."

* * *

><p>"What? You want us to find out Daren's background? Why?" shouted Eloise.<p>

"SHHH! Quiet down! You noisy girl!" shushed the old principal, giving a hard glare at the loud "I did a check up on his student information this morning. But what I found surprised me."

"What is it?" asked Elian.

"The pages were blank. Nothing was written. No academic records, no personal information. There was only a signature on the consent form with his father's signature. Theodore was his name, I believe."

"But thats impossible!" commented Eli.

"Indeed. Its definitely never happened before. But now that I think about it. As long as one has the consent form, one can apply to be a student at Yelan. Its just that usually the student records are automatically transferred from the student's previous school. For some reason, Daren doesn't have those records."

"Maybe his old school was from another country?"

"Impossible. Any international students must have their records checked before applying."

"That is very suspicious," said Elian, "But you now that you mention it, I did meet Daren before. Today, in fact. He was walking with Ezart after the simulation. They came from the direction of your office."

Antonias quickly lied, "Oh, I only called for Ezart. I guess Daren must have followed him somehow. Haha. I've never met Daren yet."

"Can I refuse?" came a small voice from behind Elian. Eloise's head was bowed and she slunk her shoulders.

"Why?" asked Antonias, "You're usually so excited for new missions, Eloise."

"I just don't want to see Daren for awhile."

Eli tried to comfort his teammate. "Cheer up, Eloise. I'm sure its all a misunderstanding."

Elian added, "Yes, I think so too. I mean, Ezart wouldn't usually hang with any D Class student. I'm sure their relationship can't be that close."

Antonias was confused. Noting the principal's expression, Elian tried to explain the situation. "Eloise overheard that Ezart and Daren were going for dinner together. I think she's thinking too much in it though."

The sly principal's ears perked up. Daren, or really, Dark Sun, having dinner with Ezart the beast? _Interesting._

"Well," said the principal, "Here's an incentive for you guys. I'll make this one mission count as two. A free ticket. How's that?"

Elian beamed. "Really? That's great! Wow! Turning his head to Eloise, he begged, "Please, Eloise? Can we take this mission?"

The pink haired girl couldn't help but laugh at her teammate's idiotic expression. "Alright. We'll take it."

"Yay!" shouted Elian. This was great. An easy mission worth so much points. It was a good reward for his hard work.

However, Antonias was no fool. He only made this offer because he knew the dangers involved in this mission. The old principal smiled to himself. He promised to never let Eloise know that Daren was in the ECS, but he hadn't promised to keep his identity a secret in the process.

* * *

><p>New arc! Yay! <p>

Reviews highly appreciated. :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"This has gone on for long enough!" shouted Devon, shaking the entire meeting table as he loudly slammed his fist on it, "I've had enough of your petty squabbling! In this entire day, none of you got anything finalized for discussion. And you call yourself the world's best!"

Glancing throughout the room, the piercing stare of the Solaris Emperor could not be challenged by any other gaze. The other members of the meeting looked shocked at the outburst, then more cautious and weary. Their hearts may be hardened by years of economic experiences, but none were stupid enough to prolong the Emperor's rage any longer.

"Bill! Get your things ready! We are leaving!" roared Devon. With a swift hand gesture, he added, "This meeting is dismissed! You may report to my personal assistant when, and only when, all of you have your projects sorted out."

There was a long and silent pause in the room, before a mighty uproar of complaints arose from the members. They all shared one collective thought. Surely if they all started talking at once, the Solaris Emperor couldn't possibly leave matters as it is, right?

Wrong.

Devon calmly whispered into his assistant's ear before rushing out the large meeting room without even a second glance. Kyle, in turn, adjusted his glasses and flipped down his laptop cover before grabbing up the expensive business jacket that his boss had forgot. Hurrying after Emp, Kyle turned back to the rising voices in the room, and added one last word.

"Please, everyone. You are all fine gentlemen and ladies here. Such accusing and obnoxious tones are not befitting to people of your stature. The Emp and myself will excuse ourselves from this meeting today, but we hope that once all of you have your real business attitudes with you, then we can continue this discussion. However, from today on, I will be acting as a representative for the Emp in further meetings."

The room went completely silent. Kyle smiled guiltily and opened the door.

"Thank you, and have a lovely evening."

The business assistant hurried out of the room and closed the door before the people inside could react to what he just said. As he fast-walked down the corridor trying to find his boss, Kyle distinctly heard the heightened voices inside the room.

"Oh! Did he just have the nerve to call ME, obnoxious?"

"He thinks WE were the ones who were 'unprofessional'!"

"Now the 'Solaris Emperor' thinks he's so mighty that he doesn't even have the time to attend the GBM*, so he sends in his ASSISTANT to deal with us?"

"I can't believe it! He's worse than his father!"

People gasped.

Then the room suddenly hushed into complete silence again. Kyle laughed to himself. That last comment was out of line, and the elite entrepreneurs knew it. The Solaris Emperor absolutely hated people mentioning his father, or in any way relating his father's name to his. The person who said it must be hoping he/she could melt into a puddle of water right now. Noting down the voice's name, Kyle finally found the Emp, just getting ready for the limo. Smirking, the business assistant once again adjusted his glasses and wondered about how Devon could make that person eat his words. What will it be this time? Compromising photos? Family blackmail? Nah, how about complete and utter economic bankruptcy?

* * *

><p>"You think Daren's going to be okay?" said Devon, leaning on the car's window. "I can't believe those blubbering loud mouths stretched the meeting till now! Look! It's almost midnight! What if that stupid scientist forgot to make something for him to eat, and Daren still hasn't eaten his dinner yet?"<p>

Kyle swiftly replied, "No worries. When I called Daren, he said he was buying barbecue and coming home to eat dinner with a friend."

Devon's tired eyes lit up. "What? A friend? Was it that acquaintance he mentioned today?"

"I believe this was a different friend."

The Solaris Emperor nodded. "I knew he was going to be popular! Look! He made so many friends on the first day!" Then sighing, Devon added, "I promised I was going to eat dinner with him today. I wanted to meet his friend. Argh! I just broke the first promise I've made to him in seven years!"

The mighty business man rubbed his eyes in frustration. How could he be a good brother to Daren like this? Why do things always turn out wrong involving Daren and himself?

"-However, Daren does report that he damaged his motorcycle."

"Oh, just get him a new one."

"Yes, Emp."

Devon was still wallowing in self guilt until something snapped.

"Did... you just say he damaged a motorcycle?"

"Yes, Emp."

"Was it the motorcycle that he wanted to ride to school today?"

"Yes, Emp."

"...How did he damage it?"

"I believe he crashed it into the school wall, Emp."

"..."

"Daren also adds that he will take responsibility for all damages and asks that you not to hurt Dr. Theodore."

"...I'll make up some excuse. Daren will believe me, won't he?"

"As nice as that might sound, I'm sure Daren's already onto your plans."

Devon tensed his fists. Damn! His little brother's one step ahead of him. But just imagining the expression on Daren's face if he ever found out what happened to Theodore... Oh, he can't take it. Never mind. Killing Theodore was out of the question. Sighing, the Solaris Emperor shook his head in contemplation.

"Bill, remove all the motorcycles in the underground parking lot. Then have the rest of the drivers on standby tomorrow morning. Daren can pick for himself which ride he wants for school."

"Yes, Emp."

* * *

><p>Dark Sun's microchip rang loud and clear.<p>

6AM

Time to get up.

In a blur of wind, he brushed his teeth, made his bed, showered, and was about to dress himself for school. However, he was surprised at the sudden change of clothes in his wardrobe. Yesterday morning it was empty, and now it was full of different types of jackets, jeans, and shirts. Overwhelmed at the sudden range of choices, Dark Sun gingerly picked up the same set of clothes he wore yesterday, and put them on. He didn't want to complicate things too much.

Heading downstairs, his eyes first met an enthusiastic Devon, who was busy putting maple syrup on a stack of pancakes. After a second glance, that was a lot of syrup. Then again, maybe Devon just really liked sweet things. Kyle the business assistant was wearing an apron that read, "Kiss the Cook" and making more pancakes. Theodore the scientist was busy snoring away, head leaning back on the chair, limbs spread out like a sea star.

Dark Sun shook his head and joined the unusual group for breakfast. And Ezart thought he was 'different'. He should come take a look at this scene every morning.

Upon seeing his little brother's face, Devon jumped up and swallowed the teen in a tight embrace.

"Good morning, Daren! Come! Sit down and enjoy some pancakes!"

Dark Sun nodded, and immediately sat down.

Devon was perturbed at Daren's lack of a response, but decided not to pursue the matter. Maybe he's just tired.

"So," continued Devon, taking a seat next to his little brother, "I've been dying to ask. How was school yesterday?"

"Good."

"Did you like the teachers?"

"Mhm."

"Did you like the school?"

"Yes."

"How were the students in your class?"

"Fine."

"The food. Was the food there any good?"

"Great."

Now Devon was really disturbed by the lack of detail in any of his little brother's responses.

"Did you make any friends?"

"A few."

"Can I meet them sometime?"

"If they would like to come over."

'_Maybe Daren's mad that I didn't keep my promise from yesterday.'_ thought Devon.

"Are you mad that I couldn't make it home in time for dinner last night?"

"No, I was fine with it. I understand you had other matters to attend to."

"You didn't care at all that I wasn't home?"

"Am I... supposed to be?"

Devon was shocked. Mentally, he was already weeping with a handkerchief. Kyle in the back was quite amused with the flow of conversation, and Theodore was still snoring loudly.

Dark Sun didn't understand why Devon had such a shocked expression on his face. Was it something he said, again? Or was it a trick question? As long as he knew where Devon was, Dark Sun's microchip never told him that the master needed to be at home.

A delicious smell suddenly wafted under his nose. Dark Sun looked down to see a fresh plate of pancakes ready to eat. He saw Kyle smile warmly, and said, "Enjoy your meal, Daren. You have a long school day ahead of you."

Turning his head around, Kyle addressed Devon. "It is past 7:00, Emp. We have an important news interview to attend at 7:30. Please hurry and finish your food so we can get you dressed and on your way to the station."

Devon was still struck speechless. Perhaps... Perhaps... Could this be the rumoured 'rebellious stage' in every adolescent's life? Could Daren be turning rebellious already? Oh, they grow up so fast.

Kyle sighed. Knowing his boss, the Emp is going to have that mental breakdown for at least a few minutes. He was already reaching for his laptop set up on the kitchen counter to email the news station that they were going to be late.

"Oh yes, Daren. I believe it isn't such a good idea to drive the motorcycle today. We have prepared many other rides for you though, from the BDT Sugaru to the 560-7 LD. You may take your pick downstairs in the underground parking lot," added Kyle.

Dark Sun sighed. But it really was his own fault for breaking a motorcycle on the first day.

"That's alright, I'll walk."

Kyle adjusted his glasses. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," confirmed the silver haired teen.

Looking over at Emp's direction, and finding the blonde entrepreneur genius still frozen in time, Kyle decided to let Dark Sun have his way.

"Okay, then you'll have to leave a bit early. The school is at least a 30 minutes walk from here. I trust you know the directions?"

"Yes."

"Have a good time at school then. I have to take Emp to his dressing room."

"Good luck," answered Dark Sun, pitying the poor business assistant.

* * *

><p>Halfway to the school, Dark Sun saw a familiar face.<p>

Ezart was walking, drinking Coke and chewing toast as the same time. The orange haired teen seemed to notice Dark Sun's presence and waved for him to come closer. As he neared, Dark Sun noticed dark eye bags and several dark bruises and wounds on Ezart.

"I never knew you walked to school."

"This is my first time."

"What happened to your fancy motorcycle?"

"You broke it, remember?

Ezart laughed. And burped. "Yes, I did, didn't I? But mind you, you crashed it into a wall first."

Dark Sun shrugged. "I could've still fixed those damages."

"Stop being such a bad sport."

"I'm not a sport."

Ezart looked at the latter weirdly. "...You sure take things literally don't you?"

"Why are you all bruised up?" asked Dark Sun.

"Eh, part of my job, that's all. I won, that's all that counts," shrugged the orange haired teen.

"Won? Is your job a game?"

Ezart burped again. "Sort of. I'll show you sometime if I remember."

And so their conversation idly continued till they arrived at school. Upon reaching their classroom, Dark Sun was surprised that the wall was repaired without a hint of damage, and all the desks were replaced. The D-Class students froze like usual when they saw Ezart step into the room, but when followed by a silver headed teen, some were flustered enough to move from their vigil. But one hard glare from Dark Sun silenced them all. The students haven't forgotten the fate of their fellow classmate from yesterday, who is, in fact, still lying unconscious in the hospital now.

Noticing that there was an empty desk next to Ezart, Dark Sun took a seat and watched as the orange haired teen completed his morning ritual by falling asleep as soon as his head hit the desk. Shrugging, Dark Sun took out a piece of paper and a pencil, then fell asleep on his desk as well. Perhaps this was how all students acted in school. As long as his microchip was awake, he can jot down the notes while asleep. No problem at all.

* * *

><p>Three frustrated teenagers sat on the rooftop of the school. In front of them was a stack of documents, mostly blank, but contained several pictures of a peculiar, silver haired boy.<p>

Eli groaned. "I can't believe it. Even I can't find out anything about this guy."

His teammate on the left, sporting a head of flaming red hair, added, "It's like he didn't even exist until a few weeks ago! No birth certificate, no health records, no legal document of any kind!"

"Maybe Daren just lived in a really, really remote place before coming here," countered Eloise, trying to defend her silver haired boy, "Or maybe our government leaks just aren't to be trusted."

"But I searched through all of their minds!" said Eli, "I made sure none of them were lying to us! You've gotta believe that there just aren't any records on this 'Daren'..."

"Maybe a really, really, realllyyyyy remote place?"

Two unamused faces turned to look at Eloise.

Eloise pouted. But its true. She should know her teammate's the best. If Eli the mind reader says he can't find out something, then its going to be pretty damn hard to find someone who could. But still, she couldn't imagine Daren being someone this suspicious.

Taking a deep breath, Elian sighed. "It seems like this mission wasn't going to be as easy as I thought it was. That sly old principal. I thought he was finally giving us a break for once, but no, he tricks us into researching someone who in all legalities shouldn't even exist!"

A grim silence fell over the three ECS members.

"I guess we could just go the long way," said Eli, "We could get to know Daren better, maybe go to his house once or twice. Meet his father and move on from there."

"Meh. I guess that's the only way now," shrugged Elian.

"I'll be in charge of asking him out!" shouted Eloise excitedly.

"Remember that this isn't an opportunity to ask him on a date," warned Eli.

The pink haired girl 'hmph-ed', "I know that!"

"Alright. That's decided then," concluded Elian, "Eloise, hurry. It's gonna be lunch break in a few minutes. Now's a good time as any."

"Roger that!"

* * *

><p>"Darreennn!"<p>

"Daaaaaareeeeeeen!"

"Daaarrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeennnnnn !"

Dark Sun slowly opened his eyes, and tried to blink the sleepiness away. The sunlight, too harsh, blinded him for a few seconds until he managed to get up. Was it already lunch time? Taking a look at the person beside him, Ezart was still sleeping, so who was it that was calling his name?

"Hey there! You awake?" Eloise smiled warmly at the silver haired teen.

Eloise? Dark Sun tensed up. He wasn't prepared to meet Eloise yet. So many things to tell her. So many things to apologize for. And more things to ask.

The facial expression on the pink haired girl stiffened. She expected Daren to be excited at seeing her, not nervous and tense. What did she do wrong?

"Hello, Eloise," said Dark Sun, managing a smile, "Fine weather we're having, isn't it?"

"Haha," laughed the latter, "When did you start making small talk to me?" Grabbing Daren's arm, Eloise half dragged him out of his seat. "Come on, I wanna show you some of my friends!"

Dark Sun knew better than to resist. "But what about Ezart?"

"Oh he sleeps through lunch. He always does."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

Sighing, Dark Sun soon found himself up on the rooftop with Eloise and two other familiar faces. One red haired teen had twin energy swords strapped to his hip, and the other green haired teen had multiple daggers hidden away everywhere on his body. Instinctively, Dark Sun jumped away from Eloise and got ready for combat.

Ignoring the gesture, both teens approached with no sign of threats. Raising his hand, the red haired teen introduced himself, "Hello there. I do believe we've met before, but I never got the chance to say hello. My name is Elian, and this is Eli. We are A-Class students from Yelan Academy. What's your name?"

They're lying. Dark Sun knew that. All three of them, including Eloise, were part of the ECS. He had at least confirmed that much from yesterday's simulation. But then again, he was no better. He had to lie as well.

"Daren Avery, D-Class student."

Elian smiled. "We heard a lot about you from Eloise. We're going karaoke tonight. Wanna join us?"

* * *

><p>*GBM: Global Business Meeting (literal name, i know.)<p>

Sorry for the slow chapter. Consider this as your introduction to Dark Sun's daily lifestyle. Things will definitely start speeding up next chap though. People die. Devon gets mad. It'll be funny. Just wait, it should only take a couple of days. Maybe less than three if I feel happy.

Hint: Reviews=cookies, and cookies make me happy :)


	18. Chapter 18 Prologue

**Prologue**

The sun, setting the sky ablaze with a fire of colors, shined relentlessly through Yelan Academy's landscape windows. A teenage boy dressed in a pair of old, faded grey jeans and a cotton sweater walked slowly down the hallway. He seemed to be breathing heavily, one hand pressed to his forehead and the other grabbing the walls to steady himself. His large, thick glasses fogged with sweat and perspiration...

A fever?

Again?

The boy headed for his classroom, which was on the furthest wing from the rest of the school, where he had forgotten his backpack. The sun temporarily blinded him, and raising an arm to block the light, the boy clumsily tripped on a few desks left outside a door. His glasses were knocked several feet away from where he landed, and the boy struggled to find his sight. He patted the floor tentatively around him, afraid that he might break his glasses if he swiped too hard, or worse, his glasses have already broken from the impact. He just doesn't have the money to go fix it. Maybe he might have to use duct tape again to fix minor damages.

His cellphone suddenly rang, breaking the boy's concentration and making him jump. He scrambled to reach his pocket.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Adren? It's mom."

"Oh, hello mom. I'm sorry for being late."

A cross but weak voice came from the other line.

"Adren, what are you doing? I baked-"

The voice suddenly coughed violently, and the boy holding the phone bit his lip. When it seemed like the coughing wouldn't stop, he bit hard enough that blood soon dripped from his wound.

"Mom, please. Save your voice. I'll-I'll get home as soon as possible, alright?"

More coughing on the line.

"I'll hang up now, okay? Mom, please drink some water and eat your medicine-"

"No! Wait!" came the weak, raspy voice, "I wanted to tell you. I baked a cake for you, Adren. Don't go to your job today. It's your 16th birthday, at least- at least spend it with your mother."

Adren paused, but replied softly, "Okay. I'll phone my boss about it. Go get some rest, mom."

"You sound sick, Adren. Do you have a fever again?"

"It's alright, mom. I'm fine. I forgot my backpack so I need to go get it. I'll be back home soon-"

Adren just noticed footsteps nearing him and stopped talking. From his blurry vision, he could make out a fellow student walking towards him. Today was Friday. No one stayed after school on a Friday. So who was this?

Suddenly, Adren felt his chest tense and his heart skipped a beat.

He couldn't breath.

Hand clawing at his chest, his throat choked for air. He dropped the phone as his body started erupting with a volcanic flame starting from his feet to his head. His limbs fluttered helplessly, trying to get the attention of the person walking towards him. Laughs came. Soft at first. Was someone laughing at him?

"Adren? Adren?" came the worried voice of his mother still on the line.

Adren clicked the 'end' button before his eyes blacked out. The laughter was louder now. Someone was laughing at him.

Now Adren felt a burst of anger that wasn't his. Pure, raw, uncontrollable anger. The new madness was directed to the whole world, and he was suddenly enveloped in darkness. The laughter of madness erupted. Adren couldn't focus. The laughter of evil. Why was someone laughing at him? Why was it getting louder, loud enough to blast off his eardrums? The constant laughter ripped a hole in his mind. The laughter of bloodshed and war cries.

Shrieks of absolute terror arose, but this time, not from his mind.

_Hahaha! Yes, scream. Scream as loud as you can. _

Adren's forehead was burning. He couldn't see nor feel. Somebody call the ambulance.

Shrieks turned to gasps of breath.

_Pain. Suffering. Delicious._

Between the laughing chaotic embodiments, words and phrases hissed in between like an evil spell. Adren tried to block his ears, but to no avail. Make it stop! Make it stop! He was surrounded by darkness. He couldn't get out.

Gasps faded away to complete silence.

Adren was close to giving in to the laughter. Let it take him. Anything to stop the noise! His body was too hot. On fire. His mouth was fuming, breathing out puffs of smoke.

Brinnggg! Brinnnggg!

Adren suddenly opened his eyes.

His cellphone was ringing. The darkness faded away just enough for Adren to see his cellphone, then further for him to see his surroundings. The laughter was still there though, but softer. The never stopping, mad laughter.

What was left of a student lied on the ground, with a thick, red liquid sprayed everywhere around the room. The windows were splattered with it. The head was ripped off, body torn apart with cruel teeth marks. Was that, the actual intestines?

Adren felt sick. Its okay. He's seen worse in battle simulations. Its okay. He will be strong. He's in Yelan Academy. He should be calm.

Its okay.

Its not okay.

Its definitely not okay.

Fire burned into his eyes. Adren roared with pain, an inhuman, bestial roar. The darkness threatened to take over his vision again. He could still faintly hear his cellphone ringing, his mother was probably worried to death, but it was fading. The laughter was once again in control. Before his sight completely disappeared, he saw his claws had been completely dyed red.

Claws?

_Blood. Old friend. How long has it been?_

Blackness enveloped the world in a smothering embrace.


	19. Chapter 18

Time passed by so fast, and in a blink, two months have come and gone by for Dark Sun in Yelan. He was walking to school with Ezart as usual in the morning, with the latter quite grumpy because he didn't get nearly enough sleep last night.

Yesterday, Eloise, Eli, and Elian dragged Ezart and himself to the new amusement park that opened in the middle of the city. Ezart complained all the way, muttering something about missing his 'job' for this, and his boss being pissed. Dark Sun didn't need quite as much convincing. For some time, he hasn't realized it, but he's grown to look forward to Eloise and her teammates dragging them around for fun. Every time there was something new. Every time he felt a bit lighter and happier. Every time he felt like he can escape from his dull, controlled, orderly life.

Eloise somehow shoved all five people into a ferris wheel cart that had only three seats. Dark Sun laughed as Elian and Eli were so squished to the side that their faces were plastered to the window. Eloise took up a seat all by herself, assuring her friends that ladies were given priority. Ezart opted to stand than to squeeze into the bundle of people in the seats. Dark Sun didn't mind. He found that he didn't hate human contact quite as much as he thought. Eloise took pictures of the city's night view. Dark Sun had to admit, it was quite a breathtaking sight.

Then Eloise challenged the haunted house. Of course, not without accidentally punching every scary thing that popped out at her. Good thing the entire house was automated machines, or else quite a few actors might've gotten more than just a bloody nose. The pink haired girl shrieked and screamed, then grabbed hold of her friends with a cling that could kill. Dark Sun almost felt the breath squeezed out his body when it was his turn. When Eloise jumped and reached for Ezart, the orange haired teen instinctually dodged her hand and ran as far from her as he could. Elian and Eli both agreed that Eloise's hugs were weapons of mass destruction that should be avoided at all costs.

Then the group entered the arcade, where Elian challenged Dark Sun to a sing-off. This reminded Dark Sun of when Eloise and her friends first took him to a karaoke station. He was quite nervous about it beforehand, so while Elian was playing some songs for him to choose from, Dark Sun recorded all of the singers' voices. Then when he tried to sing for the karaoke, his voice was the exact replica of the singer's. Elian and Eloise stood there in shock, while Eli just scratched his head in confusion. In the end, Dark Sun learned that 'recording' and then 'playing' the voice wasn't singing. He realized that he could sing with his own voice as well. Believe it or not, he'd been practicing at home ever since. Devon had bought for him his personal karaoke machine a long time ago. He's just never bothered to use it.

Eloise always said that his voice sounded great. But last night, the group of friends sang one song after another in the arcade's karaoke booth. Dark Sun's voice somehow attracted quite a few people, and soon more and more people gathered. Eloise was shocked at how many girls there were in the crowd, but the audience refused to be broken apart. Elian wasn't backing down either. His voice was perfect for lyrical songs. He had the energy, the emotion, and vocal range. Ezart even stepped up for a few of his favourite rock songs. In the end, Eloise and Eli broke under the peer pressure and sang a duet together. The audience cheered. It didn't feel like just a karaoke booth anymore. More like a stage. Dark Sun really was happy that night. He smiled, laughed, and even shed a tear when this one girl brought him flowers after his song, and told him her appreciation for brightening up her evening.

Because of the informal concert, the group of friends ended up leaving really late from the amusement park. It wasn't until the staff came to check out all the commotion near closing time that the crowd was forced to disperse. Elian's face was covered with lipstick stains, and he staggered around as if half drunk with happiness. Eli and Dark Sun both got quite a few numbers written on both their hands and arms. Eloise obtained a whole parade of male followers while Ezart just realized his singing ability wasn't actually half bad.

And that was all just last night. Dark Sun had been out almost every night of the week, coming home only when it was past midnight. Theodore never really noticed his absence after all, for the scientist almost never leaves his lab nowadays. Devon was usually at work late at night as well and couldn't come home. So off Dark Sun goes to explore the city with his newfound friends. And they really were people he would gladly call friends.

He's been to the race tracks, where everyone rented 3D simulation race cars. It was great fun to watch Ezart crush Eloise's Ferrari with his monster truck. Elian chose a shiny red lambourghini and Eli rode beside him. Of course, Dark Sun chose a motorcycle, and no matter how hard Ezart tried to crush the silver haired teen's ride, Dark Sun was always agile enough to evade him.

Then there was the time they went hiking on a nearby mountain. Ezart strangled a passing bear because it was found stealing their food. Eloise got mad and refused to give Ezart any of the food as punishment, so Ezart cut off the bear's leg and ate that instead. The orange haired teen eventually gained a great fur jacket with a pelt he skinned from the bear itself. Eloise was never able to look at Ezart the same way again after that.

And don't even mention the time where they all went to the water park, and Eloise brought her camera along to take 'friendship photos' for the entire group. Dark Sun couldn't get Eloise to stop taking pictures of him that day, and all Elian and Eli could do was look at the silver haired boy with pity. They were just glad that Eloise wasn't focusing on them. In the end, Ezart had to step in and stop the camera flashes. It was blinding his eyes. Eloise was extremely displeased. It wasn't every day she'll get to see Daren topless. The next day, Dark Sun found pictures of himself on the school poster boards, which titled: 'Yelan Beautiful Men' along with some other unfortunate male students that caught the eyes of the stalker princess, Eloise. The board became infamous in a day, and it was all the talk in spring. Girls sided with their favourite men, and a whole commotion started within the school. Elian and Eli thanked their secretive ECS identities that Eloise didn't put them on the list. Poor Dark Sun couldn't walk anywhere without getting bombarded by girls for a few weeks. Looking back on it, the silver haired teen couldn't help but smile with frustration.

"Hey," said Ezart, punching Dark Sun back to Earth from his daydreams, "Fight me today in the battle simulators. My fists have been itching for a good brawl."

Dark Sun smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Elian's reserved me for today. He's been bugging me for a match ever since last week."

Shocked, Ezart continued, "But you just fought him a week ago!"

"But people would always interrupt halfway. Elian said he just wanted to fight to the end once. I couldn't say no."

"Do you actually have a schedule or something?"

Dark Sun nodded. "You want to see it? I'm taken all of this week. I can do next week Tuesday and Thursday though, but if you can't, I can squeeze you in after-"

Ezart shushed the boy. "I can't believe you sometimes. You come find me when you're free."

"... Alright."

Dark Sun really was very busy. It was just recently when he met the ECS trio in the battle simulations with his real identity. He had on a different suit, and different weapons, but still proved himself to be powerful opponent. Eloise was surprised more than her companions at the strength of the silver haired teen. He wasn't any weaker than Ezart, and can hold his own with even Elian. D Class just got another monster to deal with. After Elian found out Dark Sun's battle potential, he's taken a special interest in trying to pick a fight in every simulation. However, with his secret ECS identity, their battles always had to be discreet, and had to be stopped every time some students passed by. Of course, Dark Sun also actively participated in the battle simulation tournaments, which were often broadcasted throughout the entire school. In a matter of days, he was recognized as one of the top combatants, next to Ezart. Gradually, more students came to test their skills with the silver haired teen, and Dark Sun would usually accept, welcoming a chance to fight. So many challengers came to him in the end, that he was forced to create a schedule just to keep track of them all.

* * *

><p>"I'm pretty sure its him."<p>

"Who?"

"Daren! I'm pretty sure he's the 'angel' and 'devil' we met in the simulation from the beginning!" came Elian's concerned voice.

Eloise grunted. There was no way they were going to have this conversation again. She just wasn't in the mood after this morning. "Look Elian, I understand you feel bad about failing our mission that time. We all felt bad! But that doesn't mean you have to blame Daren for it! I mean, do you really think that he can just sprout wings and fly?"

"But just look at the evidence pointing towards him! Same silver hair, great fighting skills, similar physique! And we had the battle simulation on the day that Daren first came to this school. Then what happens? On the same day, an awesome fighter appears mysteriously in the simulation with those similar traits!" argued Elian, "There's no way that can all just be a coincidence!"

Eli added, "And I've tried to read the angel's mind before in the simulation. Every living being should have some form of thoughts. But there was nothing there for me to read, no feelings, emotions, ideas. Only dead people can be that quiet. Then when I first met Daren, I got the same result. I was shocked to find that he's alive. I'm also convinced that Elian is right."

"Argh!" shouted Eloise, stomping her feet stubbornly, "I don't get it! If the angel was Daren, how could he have wings? The simulation isn't equipped with that! With the 99% realism, it would mean that in real life he has humongous metal wings flapping about in broad daylight. I think after hanging with him for such a long time, one of us would have seen it."

"Maybe he's not human. Maybe Antonias thinks he could be the culprit we're trying to find."

Gasping, Eloise warned, "Elian!"

"I was just giving you a possibility, that's all."

Eloise crossed her arms and raised her voice with anger. "I can't believe you two! After being through so much, you're suspecting Daren of being a cruel, heartless monster? Do you really think that Daren would be the type of person to do those sort of things? I thought we were all going to be friends together! Mission or not, I've always thought of Daren as being one of my best friends!"

"Wait, Eloise, that's not what I meant. It's because I think of him as a friend that I worry about him. He's giving himself away too blatantly. I'm sure that Antonias has already came to the same conclusion as to who the mysterious 'angel' could be. What if he's suspecting Daren, and that's why we were told to find out his identity?"

Nodding, Eli continued, "The old man was absolutely livid today. You know how much he cares about this school. Now he's trying to cover up a manslaughter! We were called to tow away the body. You saw how gruesome it was. Only the 'devil' could be capable of something like that. And you've seen Daren's performance in the simulation. He really was nothing less than the devil.

Eloise, fading into silence, closed her eyes to try and erase her memories from this morning. At 5AM the trio was called to an emergency meeting by Antonias to the school. After coming home from the concert, Eloise dragged herself out of bed with only four hours of sleep. Then after coming to Yelan, she was faced with something she thought was only from forensic movies. She'd dealt with dead bodies before, but not like this. This pile of flesh and blood was all thats left of the poor student. Organs were spilled everywhere. She could still remember Elian petting her back to try and ease her nausea. Antonias gripped his fists tight, and showed the identity of the student to them. He used to be a student from D Class, a classmate of Daren and Ezart. Their second job was to clean up the mess before school starts and find the killer. This was a top secret mission, meaning the incident couldn't be found out by the student body.

Eloise distinctly remembered wiping off the blood from the windows. They wouldn't come off. Elian and Eli took care of the actual, more gruesome body. They found teeth marks on wounds, but couldn't find the head. Antonias stormed back into his office and hasn't appeared since, no doubt pulling strings behind curtains in a rage. The whole hallway smelled of blood and rot, as the body had been left there over the weekend. The ECS trio had to spray the entire place with alcohol to remove the odour. Despite being tired, Eloise just couldn't comprehend the idea of a killer being loose in Yelan. This was a battle academy, yes, but violence like this has never happened before. Sure, the D Class students go off and beat each other into pulps, but never to the death. Never. It was an iron clad rule that should've never been broken. But now, she couldn't promise the safety of the rest of the students.

It had seemed like Antonias thought the same. As the ECS trio finished the first half of their mission, they saw several hooded figures walking among the students of Yelan. They looked familiar because they were all ECS members. Looks like the old principal has really pulled out all the stops. From the number of the hooded figures, it looked like the entire ECS was here patrolling the school. Of course, the actual students didn't know what was going on, nor would they notice. Who would realize an extra thirty heads walking among a sea of people?

After cleaning up, Eloise spent forever trying to clean the bottom of her shoes. They left red marks and were sticking to the ground. She shuddered at the memory.

Coming back to present time, the hooded ECS trio was walking among the students in the cafeteria, helping with patrolling. Not far away, Elian caught sight of Dark Sun. The silver haired teen seemed to have noticed the extra additions to the school, and was eyeing the hooded figures nervously until he recognized Elian's face. Eloise saw Dark Sun walk up to them, and breathed nervously.

Quietly, Dark Sun asked, "What's going on today? I've noticed quite a few suspicious people walking around. Are you part of some event?"

Eloise tried to smile, "No, this is just going to be a temporary thing. All the A Class students are doing a secret survey right now. You don't have to pay too much attention to it."

Dark Sun wasn't that easily fooled. He had a hunch the hooded figures were all ECS members. But he didn't pursue it further.

"You should lay low for a while," suggested Elian, "Don't go to the simulators, maybe take a week's vacation."

"What? Why?"

Patting Dark Sun's shoulder, Elian continued, "Trust me, don't draw too much attention to yourself right now. Its not the best time."

The silver haired teen looked at him with disbelief and curiosity. Usually Elian was the first one to ask for a fight in the simulators. Before any more questions were asked though, Ezart popped by and ruined the silence.

"Hey brat, I'm going to get barbecue. Wanna come?"

Raising an eyebrow, Dark Sun closely examined each of his three friends' faces. With dark eye bags and tired looks, it seemed they didn't want to tell him any more than that. Sighing, he replied, "Yeah, I'm coming!" and ran after Ezart.

Eloise, Elian and Eli all let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

><p>Antonias slammed his fist onto his desk. With a mighty swing he cleared the entire office table's contents onto the floor. Vases broke, staplers hit the window, and an uneaten muffin splattered apart. Still huffing and puffing with anger, the old principal kicked the wall and grasped his face with both hands.<p>

How dare they?

He slammed the table again.

How DARE they?

How does ANYONE dare to murder a student in HIS school?

He will make them pay.

He sighed, trying to calm himself down. Breathe.

He will find the killer. And. Make. Them. Pay.

The troublesome part is, Antonias had no idea who the culprit could be. It could be anyone! An outsider, or even a student from the school! But from the looks of the crime scene, it looked like it was done by a beast more than a human. No human can have those teeth marks. Perhaps this was going to be deeper than he thought. Maybe it might have to involve something else altogether. He had to solve this quickly though, before the killer made his next move. Even with deploying all 30 ECS members, the principal still couldn't rest at ease. 30 people just wasn't enough to look after the entire student body. No, he might have to call in somebody else. He picked up his phone.

"Hello? Sin?"

"Tsk, old man. What do you want?"

"I want you to go contact someone called Daren. I'll send over his info and picture to your cellphone later. Tell him to come meet me as soon as possible, and bring Ezart. You can come too."

"What? I'm an errand boy now?"

"Oh just do it."

"Tsk," came the voice before hanging up.

Antonias breathed out with a temporary feeling of relief. Maybe if he set both of 'them' to the task, the situation might be resolved faster. Hopefully.

* * *

><p>Alright, so several things that need mentioning about this chapter.<p>

1. Daren does this whole karaoke incident much like I described, in the sequel 'No Hero'. I found it absolutely hilarious. I encourage you to go read the original if you can.

2. I'm going to introduce an OC in the story. I'm sorry for those who don't like OC's. I'm sorry. But he's going to be interesting. Just wait. I've gotten his whole story planned out.

3.I didn't get to reach Devon in this chapter. Darn. He'll definitely get some time in the next one though!

4. YAY Sin's here. :)

Let's just say life isn't going to be very plain from now on for Dark Sun and peeps. The next chapter might take a while. Vacation time is ending and I've yet to get any real work done. Sigh.

Review and give me cookies!


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Fire burned the vast plain into a pit of ashes. Fire that couldn't be extinguished by water. Fire that came from the depths of Earth and scorched Adren all black.

Adren might've been able to cope with just that. But the smell of burned skin and flesh was surrounding him and making him very uncomfortable. His new heightened sense of smell and touch reacted to every step of his enemies. Dragons.

Dragons? The winged lizards who hoarded gold and kidnapped princesses? Adren had read about them in stories before. But the ones that flew at him were definitely a different kind. Their eyes were intelligent, their smiles cold, and their features all had something that seemed remotely... human. The group of about 10 surrounded Adren in a circle.

One of them though, the emerald one that landed the closest facing him, had eyes of frantic worry.

'Stop this, Baadva. This is my last chance to offer you an escape route. Take it, or you will die."

Adren suddenly noticed that this dragon was talking to him on the same eye-level. That was impossible. These beings had to be over 40 metres tall. He was what, not even close to 2 metres? Then Adren felt a humongous flame erupt from his own mouth. He was angry, so angry that the flame forced the other dragon back several wings. But he never realized why he was angry. A foreign, deeper voice came from his body and said,

"I don't need your pity, Fradre! This is what I have decided! Come at me if you will! Either I will kill you all, or I will die trying."

The other dragons that landed on the plain snarled and flapped their wings in anticipation. Had the previous emerald dragon not spoken, a fight might've erupted right then and there.

"Kill us?" he said, "Do you have any idea what you're even saying, Baadva? It is the most gravest sin possible to kill one of your own kind." After a short pause, he continued, "Why do you try so hard for them? I mean, for the humans."

The foreign voice in Adren replied, "Because they have something that we do not. We lost it long ago when we exchanged it for power. " With a softer tone, he continued, "Leave, Fradre. I can fight everyone except for you. I don't want to have to kill you too."

"I can't, Baadva. I'm the leader of this mission... Either I bring you back with me, or I have to be the one who kills you."

Another dragon, with icy blue scales, turned its head and said, "We can't negotiate with him anymore, Fradre. A traitor will always be a traitor. Showing him anymore compassion is useless."

Adren felt his body tense. His own wings carried mighty currents that allowed him to suspend in the air. The other dragon also took to the skies. After looking around deliriously, Adren had to accept the truth. He was a dragon as well. His own crimson scales danced in the light of the fire, still raging in the plains.

"Stop, Revique!"

Too late. A blast of frozen ice hit Adren directly in the face.

* * *

><p>Adren shot up. He had a cold sweat that gripped him in paralysis and fear. After panting for awhile, he eventually got his heart rate down by taking deep breaths.<p>

'Be calm. Under no circumstances may one panic during a fight. If you do, you have already lost.' Adren remembered the words of his combat instructor from school.

"Urgh". Adren felt a sudden pain in his chest. School. That's right. The place where he killed someone. Adren suddenly felt faint. He kept second-guessing his own memory, not sure if the bloody event really happened. But all he had to do was look at his own fingernails, still caked with blood that he couldn't wash off, and he realized that everything was the truth.

What day was it? Adren looked at the electronic calendar on his wall. Monday. MONDAY? Already? How long had he slept? All he remembered on Friday was coming back and heading straight for his room and locking the door. His mother was worried, but he couldn't remember how he managed to calm her down. Cursing in his mind, he knew he should be at school already. But it was okay to skip one day, right? His hands gripped the bedsheets as he forced himself out of bed. Frantically, he raced to his bedroom mirror to check if it was still there. It was.

A blatantly large symbol rested on his forehead that resembled a dragon's head. In the dragon's mouth was a red orb. To say the truth, it looked like a normal tattoo. Except it sometimes burned like hell, giving Adren periodic fevers and hallucinations. Maybe not such a normal tattoo. It first appeared on Friday night, when Adren was racing home after that bloody event. His head was hot and delirious, his eyes wet with tears. As he passed some windows of the nearby shops, he saw the odd insignia that appeared on his forehead, glowing. It wasn't rare to see glowing tattoos in this time and age, but how it got onto his own forehead, Adren had no idea. At least now, looking at it in the mirror, it no longer glowed that eerie red light.

He didn't have bangs to cover it up. His hair wasn't long enough for that anyway. Adren resorted to wrapping his forehead in bandages to hide the large symbol. He couldn't let his mother worry any longer.

After making himself look like a person with a severe head injury, Adren sat back down on his bed. What should he do? Turn himself in? But he couldn't do that. If he went to jail, who's going to take care of mother? Besides, no one would believe him anyways. The way he killed that student wasn't possible for humans. It was only possible for beasts. His head boomed again, suddenly. What was that dream he had? About dragons? Traitors? And Baadva. The other dragons in his dream were calling him that. Who is he, if he's not Adren? Adren suddenly felt like breaking down and crying. Who cares if it was unmanly. Everything that happened these few days were too much for him to handle, so out of his control. So many questions, and so much more guilt for keeping this all a secret. His mind was going back and forth in circles with no way out.

"Adren?" came a soft, raspy voice from behind the door.

His mind immediately stopped thinking.

"Yes, mother?" he brightly replied, "I was just getting ready to go down and cook breakfast."

"Oh no, Adren, don't worry about that. I can c-cook it if you want. Can I come in?"

Her voice is getting softer and softer. It won't be long before she won't be able to talk at all. Adren's heart fell and his fist was tight.

"Of course!" he opened the door and smiled cheerfully, inviting his mother inside the room.

His mother's eyes became wide when she saw the bandages. Gasping, she said, "What happened, Adren? Was it because of a fight?" Her hand reached up to touch his forehead. Adren grabbed her mother's wrist firmly before she could.

"No, don't worry. I'm fine. You shouldn't strain your voice anymore like this. If you want to say something, you should write it down."

By the look in his mother's eyes, Adren realized he might have used too much force. Suddenly letting go, he added, "I'm sorry. I'll go down and cook some breakfast now."

Halfway down the stairs, his mother asked, "What happened on Friday night, Adren?"

Adren stopped, and in an impulse wanted to tell everything to his mother. Tell her about the symbol, his hallucinations, his bloodied hands, but was just as quickly brought back to reality. His mother can't know about this. She was the his only family, and in her weak state, burdening her mind with something this heavy would be gravely selfish. It was always like this, wasn't it? Ever since he was small, he'd hide all of his problems outside the house and come back lively and cheerful for his mother to see. He should be used to shouldering this sort of weight. He just wanted to keep the peaceful times inside this house a little longer, even if it wasn't really the truth.

"Nothing much. I just fell down the stairs when a classmate of mine bumped into me. It was an accident." said Adren as he turned around and smiled effortlessly to his mother, "I'm fine, really. Now what do you say to blueberry pancakes with maple syrup?"

Taking one last look at her face before going downstairs, Adren knew his answer didn't satisfy his mother. It's okay. As long as she could be happy, Adren didn't care how much he had to lie.

* * *

><p>Sin opened up the door to the new barbecue shop down the street. He had heard the owner of this shop personally cooked the best meat in town. When he strode in, the little bell that rang hurt his ears and he winced. The waitress, who was neat and tidy in her uniform approached him and asked, "Welcome, ma'am. Is it just for one today?"<p>

Before Sin's mouth could open, his cellphone beeped. Must be the information Old Man Antonias was going to send him. Glaring at the waitress, he decided to ignore her previous mistake and replied, "Yes, it's just me." The poor waitress didn't know what she had done to deserve such a hard glare. The customer looked very stylish with long, leather boots and a black top. Whatever it was, she still had to lead the customer to her table. "Follow me, ma'am."

Sin grinded his teeth, trying to control his anger. Why do people keep mistaking his gender? Elian used to say he dressed too feminine, but he really couldn't see how. Thus, when people realize he's a guy and try to make excuses saying he was pretty enough to be girl, Sin usually made those people die the cruelest deaths. But he couldn't go around killing innocent citizens on such a daily basis right? It happened way too often for that, or else Sin would be labelled as a world-class serial killer instead of the best in Yuelan Acadamy's Elite Combat Section. Forget it, this waitress just isn't getting any tip today.

As he sat down on the chair, Sin leaned back on the backrest and lazily flipped through the menu. Although it was only early afternoon, the store was already crowded with people. Sin disliked being in public places with tons of noise and chatter. Especially the table beside his, which had a muscular guy with orange hair shouting out random comments at such a high volume, it was crazy. The silver haired teen sitting beside the orange chatterbox didn't really seem to mind the noise though, and quietly ate his food in silence.

Groaning, Sin told himself to relax. It's been too long since Antonias had given him a mission that doesn't involve assassin work. The noise was putting him on edge. Maybe that stupid, orange haired baboon can ease his boredom. But just thinking about the lecture the old man would give him afterwards really put him off. Oh well, he got out his cellphone to see which two poor people caught the eye of the damn principal and asked himself to pick up.

_Daren Avery:_

_-Quiet, skinny, silver haired teen around 1.6 metres_

_-D Class student_

_-Often seen around Ezart_

_Ezart Yi_

_-Spiky, orange haired teen with dragon tattoo on left cheek_

_-Loud, rambunctious, likes to get into fights_

_-D Class student_

_-Muscular and bad tempered_

_-Often seen with Daren_

Sin raised his eyebrow. These people... sort of looked famili-

。。。

No. it can't be. Shit.

He put his phone down and slowly turned his head around to peek at his neighbours.

Shit. It was them.

All he wanted was to have a nice lunch in the daylight, not some stupid take out in the middle of the night Antonias provided him after he was done a mission. It's been forever since he was able to broadly roam around with the sun still over the mountain.

Shit.

Screw the old principal. He's not the one doing the dirty work. Sin decided to forget this matter until he's eaten his barbecued meat. He can tail them when lunch is over. For now, he will enjoy the natural daylight and the tenderness of meat.

* * *

><p>Hello guys!<br>Please don't kill me for not updating sooner. *hides in corner*

I had exams to study for. In the summer too, yes. I have like, one of week of vacation and then more studying. YAY studying.

I think I would've put this off for later had not some people kept nudging me by giving me reviews. Note that everytime I look at them, I have a sudden pang of guilt for not writing more. So the best way to remind me of these things is to give me more pangs of guilt.

That being said, I sincerely love all of those who reviewed and have shown your love for this story. Thank you 3

More will come, soon. I hope. Maybe. If time allows.

I just realized its been a year, (or almost a year?) I've been writing this. Wow.

Bye guys.


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